Rekindle
by Pythonsrus
Summary: The enemy of my enemy is my friend... Right? What happens when a simple exorcist training mission goes wrong? Yukio and his team of exwires, except for Rin, are cocooned in a spiderweb like substance. Three hundred and fifty years later, exorcists find a way to break them free. But what happens when the world they knew is gone, and why will no one tell them what happened to Rin?
1. Prologue: Me, My Demon, and I

Hi everybody! This is a rewritten version of my first fanfic "Flames of the Hell Spawn." I had originally posted it wattpad, but I liked the formatting here better so I thought I would give it a try. If any of you have seen the original I'd love to know what you think of this version.

If you're a new reader, be thankful you didn't live through my first train wreck of a fanfiction.

Anyway on with the the chapter and thanks for reading

/Line Break/

"You cannot defeat darkness by running from it, nor can you conquer your inner demons by hiding them from the world. In order to defeat the darkness, you must bring it into the light."

-Seth Adam Smith, Rip Van Winkle and the Pumpkin Lantern

**Assiah: forest outside True Cross City**

**Year xx10**

Yukio and Shura had taken the exwires on a training mission. All they had to do was exorcise some low level demons. It was simple really. That is until Rin and Bon started fighting. Yukio, in hindsight should have expected this. The two were no strangers when it came to fighting. If either one of them could find a way to get under the others skin, then they would do it.

"-and what's that supposed to mean?!" Rin shouted, interrupting Yukio from his thoughts.

"It means you're stupid if you can't even figure out that much!" Bon hastily yelled back.

"Well at least I don't look like a dumb ass rooster!"

"A rooster?!" Bon looked ready to throw a punch. The sparks between the two were almost visible and the others could feel the air crack. Shura was no help either. She had a can of beer in her hand and was laughing like the argument between the two was the funniest thing she had ever seen. Yukio sighed the day was already off to a bad start.

When they finally reached the forest, it was eerie quiet. Yukio fixed his glasses while examining his surroundings. The briefing he received said that this place was crawling with lower level demons. But that is not what he saw. He couldn't even hear the animals in the forest. Demon or not, where was all the life? He had a really bad feeling.

"I thought we were gonna go after some demons." Rin whined bored as they walked deeper into the forest.

"Stop complaining. It's not like you could handle low level demons anyway." Bon said obviously trying to anger Rin. It worked.

"Please I could defeat Satan if I wanted too!" Rin said smugly. This only spurred them on further.

"You can't even exorcise a coaltar, like hell you can defeat Satan!" The fighting only escalated from there. It wasn't long before Shura broke them up.

"Okay that's enough you two." She said sternly with a hand on each of their shoulders. She too had realized that something was very wrong with this forest. "let's focus on the mission."

"What mission? There's nothing here!" Rin said defiantly. Shura flicked his ear.

"Um." Shiemi started. "I don't want to be rude, but he's right there's nothing." She finished meekly. The rest nodded. They all noticed the oddity of the forest. The silence was heavy as they looked around the forests. That is until they heard a scream from behind them. They all whipped their heads around to see Shima flailing frantically.

"There's still bugs in this forest!" He shouted while he pulled out a can of bug spray and coated himself in it. A few of the others just rolled their eyes before continuing to search the forest.

They searched for the rest of the day and never once found a sign of demon activity. It was strange, to say the least, that the report had been so wrong. Yukio for one didn't believe that it was necessarily wrong, but that someone or something had gotten there first.

A swift dark movement at his side caught Yukio's attention. His brothers tail anxiously flipped back and forth. It didn't seem that his brother was aware of the action. The younger twin payed close attention to the extra appendage. His brothers instincts were often more aware than their user. Rin was primarily a instinctual being, only reminding Yukio more that he had to keep an eye on him. He could not let the demon side take over his older twin.

The tailed move quickly once more and the tuft of fur was sticking up. Rin himself seemed virtually normal, but it was clear that the demon instincts were on edge. Which in turn put Yukio on edge, for the only thing that frightened a demon, was another much more powerful demon. And his brother was by no means a weak demon. His control of his power was spotty at best but still he was strong.

Yukio pushed his glasses up and became much more alert. Shura noticed Yukio's action and did the same. He was about to suggest they turn back and report their findings, or lack thereof, so more experienced exorcists could handle the obvious dangerous enigma that was the forest, when he saw Rin freeze and his head whip around to look behind him. His eyes were wide and hairs on his tail stood up more if that were possible. All Yukio could do was think that something very bad was about to happen.

Rin didn't understand what he had just felt, or what he had just done. His body moved on its own. The feeling was nauseating and it made him want to run. He didn't like that. He would not be intimidated by something that wasn't even there. As soon as he thought that he knew it was wrong. There was something there, something strong and deadly.

The others looked at him funny. He realized that they obviously didn't feel the same pressure he did. Rin's heightened sense caught the presence of something and it was only the  
instincts of his inner demon that allowed him to jump out of the way of whatever it was that just tried to kill him.

When Rin regained his bearings he cringed at what was before him. A giant grotesque demon spider faced him. The others had already begun to fight the thing off. But it was obvious that this battle was a whole other level that they weren't ready for.

The demon began shooting them with its web. Shima was the first to fall. He could barely move when he saw the thing. And when it came towards him he panicked. Konekomaru froze when he saw his friend being encased, giving the demon time to capture him next.

Shiemi was terrified but managed to think fast. She summoned Nee and had him make a barrier out of branches and thorny vines. She was hoping her and the little green mans effort would at least hold off the demon long enough for the others to get their fallen friends and retreat. It was wishful thinking on her part. The demon easily tore through the barricade like it wasn't even there. Nee held out as long as he could but the demon was too much. He was injured and forced to return to Gehenna. Shiemi was left defenseless and the spider went after her next.

Izumo summoned her twin foxes, but they too could not stop the demon nor offer any information about it, for it was nothing they had ever encountered before. It did not stop them from trying though. They attacked, but like the green man were eventually forced back to Gehenna.

Bon was really starting to panic now. One after another he watched as his friends were rendered helpless to the demon. The thing didn't seem to have a fatal verse, or at least one he could find. In the split second he stopped moving to watch horrified as Izumo fell, he too was caught. The demon was fast and within seconds every exwire was incapacitated.

All while the exwires had their struggles Yukio and Shura were attacking the beast. Yukio was emptying clip after clip but the demon didn't seem to notice. Shura's sword was just as ineffectual as everything else.

Rin would never say it out loud but he was scared, terrified even. He had to do something but every instinct he had was telling him to run. He couldn't leave his brother and friends behind though. With everything he had he forced his instincts away and grabbed his sword. His hands were shaking as he took off the red cloth.

"Rin don't do it!" He heard Yukio yell. He looked over and saw his younger twins eyes. They were screaming for Rin to run away. Rin almost complied as his inner being started to resurface again.

Then Shura fell.

Yukio's attention was once again on the demon. Rin made up his mind. With more steady hands he unsheathed his sword. The flames instantly took hold of him. The instincts  
that he could feel before were now overwhelming. Unlike before, however, his inner demon was telling him to fight. With his power no longer in its seal it was ready to take charge.

The demon noticed the sudden change in pressure and quickly did away with Yukio. The two demons were instantly at each others throats.

Rin's flames were growing hotter and brighter as he continued to be pushed back. The demon in him no longer wanted to fight, but to destroy everything in its path. It didn't like being overpowered by this... whatever it was. The inner demon wasn't quite sure what to make of this being before it. But it didn't matter, it would destroy this beast even if it had to destroy everything else in the process.

The inner being felt like it had only just been unleashed when something stopped. Not just something, but it's life source. It started to fade then went out completely without realizing what had just happened.

Rin fell to the ground, unconscious.

/ Line Break/

**Assiah: Forest outside True Cross City**

Mephisto had always admired those brilliant blue flames, the ones only his little brother had inherited. They were the true mark of the devil, even if the boy chose to deny it. Those flames were wild and uncontrollable, just like their wielder. From the moment he first saw the twins in the cave with their deceased mother, he had taken an interest in them. If Shiro Fujimoto had not spared them and agreed to raise the boys, he would have. They were such excellent new toys after all.

But like any new toy, they always seemed to break too soon and too easily. He thought they would have lasted a bit longer, considering their demon heritage, but that didn't seem to be the case.

Mephisto stared at the mess in front of him. Two exorcists and five students all wrapped in a demon spider's silk, and his half demon, half brother violently raging out of control. He hadn't planned for something like this. Sure he through in an occasional obstacle or demon king, but he didn't set this one up. No tricks or traps planned, just a normal mission. So, why were things this bad?

He figured he should intervene as he watched the young half demon run wild. With a "tsk" and a poof of pink smoke he leapt from the floating chair he was using for observation. He landed in front of his mindless growling little brother, and with those infamous words of his, _eins, zwei drei,_ he nullified the boy into submission. Those blue flames started to diminish as their masters consciousness faded.

What a mess this had turned into. The Vatican would most likely want Rin's head after this little display. Mephisto wasn't willing to loose his possessions that easily. His ever scheming mind was already plotting ways to turn the events in his favor. He still had a lot of cards left to play after all.

/ Line Break /

**Location: ?**

It was strange, this feeling. It was like floating and being frozen all at once. He didn't like it and neither did the demon inside him. It was angry he could feel that. It didn't like being caged and bound yet again. It also was more than a little upset at not being able to finish its fight. If there was one thing a demon hated more than anything, it was being interrupted in the middle of a fight. He didn't like this, this urge that kept taking him over. It used to be just barley there, unnoticeable, now it was a constant and it always wanted to have control. And what scared him the most was sometimes he agreed with its reasoning and let it. Both he himself and the inner demon's consciousness started to fade and it wasn't long before they were both in the dark.

When next he was aware, it was dark, so dark that he realized his eyes weren't open. But no matter how hard he tried he couldn't force himself to open them. That strange urge was still there but it was dwindling down. It wasn't calm that's for sure, but there wasn't anything he or it could do, so at the very least there was no need to be so agitated. There was a vague awareness of voices, but neither were in the right state of mind to comprehend them. Once more the two were fading back into the dark.

The third time he awoke was with much more clairvoyance than before. He was in a room, a brightly decorated room. It reminded him of someone, but he could think of who at the moment. The inner demon growled in annoyance before it quieted down again. It obviously had more recognition than he did. He thought he heard someone hushing him and telling him to rest but couldn't quite understand the words. Maybe he wasn't as aware as he thought. Perhaps sleep would do him good and the world went dark again.

Rin awoke for a fourth time in a bed that wasn't his in a room that wasn't familiar. His head felt like it was being crushed and his entire body ached, from his head right down to his tail. He felt strange, that intense gut feeling had subsided and in a way he was more wary than relived that it was gone. He started to sit up. A motion his screaming muscles rejected, so he stayed where he was, trying to figure out what had happened in the meantime. He remembered going on a mission with Yukio and the other exwires, only to have it go horribly wrong. A demon he had never seen before had ambushed them. He remembered it started trapping the others and he pulled out his sword then... and then...

A sharp pain hit his head. He couldn't remember. Everything was blank. His memories just stopped after he grabbed his sword. The only thing he could kind of remember was the feeling of the inner demon telling him to run and then telling him to fight, but he couldn't remember if he did either of those things.

He stayed there for awhile, just staring up at the ceiling. Rin didn't know how long he laid there, his head was pounding and for once he wanted those instincts to return and give him a direction. A door opening grabbed his attention.

"I see you're awake, good. There are some mixed feelings about what to do with you my boy. Some of the exorcists want you contained, but most want you dead. I've managed to convince the Grigori, for now, to let you stay with me." Said a familiar voice and suddenly he realized where he was.

"Me-phist-o." Rin hoarse voice choked out. He hadn't realized how dry his throat was until he spoke.

Mephisto cleared his throat. Perhaps he should have started off the conversation with asking how Rin was doing. The boy was rather injured. Mephisto gave him a quick once over. He couldn't feel the demonic aura as strongly now and that worried him. Even if the boy denied his other half, it was still part of him, even if he didn't notice it. But if it wasn't there then the boy would be left disoriented. And a disoriented demon was helpless demon and helpless demon was a soon to be dead one. But now more then ever Rin needed to be able to think clearly.

"How are you feeling?" Mephisto asked.

"Wh... What happened?"

"I suppose an explanation is needed." He sighed. Mephisto explained to Rin about what the spider demon had done to his brother and fellow exwires.

"Then what happened? How did I end up here?" Rin asked. Mephisto gave him a sad look.

"You're lucky I was able to get there first. If the exorcists had found you in that sate you would be dead."

"You stopped me?" Rin wasn't sure if he was grateful or scared that the older demon was able to stop his rampaging demon.

Rin was adamant that his flames could break the casing that trapped his brother and friends. After all nothing burned hotter than Satan's flames, but Mephisto remindedhim that his flames had done nothing against the demon. It was nothing like the Michelle Neuhaus incident.Rin wouldn't be able to help this time.

"Then what am I supposed to do? I can't just sit here and wait."

"There's nothing you can do. You're under strict house arrest until the matter is resolved." Mephisto excused himself, but not before giving the young half demon one last look. For once Mephisto wasn't warring his normal devious lazy smile. He shut the door with a silent sigh and headed off in another direction.

The King of Time and Space was a lot of things, cunning, deceitful, a trickster, an observer, but he was also an older brother. And as such he was concerned over his younger brothers situation. The best thing he could do for him at the moment was to let him rest. Worrying would do niether good. He also needed a clear head if they were going to get out of this mess with their lives.

Rin watched Mephisto leave. He had conflicting feelings. He didn't know if he wanted the older demon to stay or not. His presence was familiar but not necessarily comforting. Rin had never felt so alone. His twin brother was gone. How would he function without Yukio's constant nagging? He wasn't sure he could live without his brother. After their father was killed by Satan, they were all each other had. And his friends, or at least the people he called friends (he wasn't sure really what they thought of him) were gone. Even if their relationship was rocky at best and non existent at worst, they were still important people in his life.

But that's not what made him nervous, oh no, it was part of the reason that's for sure, having everyone you care about suddenly taken away and possibly dead tended to add to ones stress. But the other reason, the one that made him truly alone and unable to think was the fact that he couldn't feel his inner demon.

He had gone most of his life without even knowing it existed. He had always felt a strange presence when he was growing up, but never paid it much thought. When the seal containing his flames was broken the feeling intensified. It scared him. He never told anyone about the inner demon. He was too afraid that they would deem him a threat and kill him. And he didn't want to add more stress to Yukio's life than he already had. He would rather deal with it on his own so that neither of those things would happen. For the most part it worked. He never came off as a guy who would sometimes argue with himself and the voice in his head. But lately it had gotten worse.

The inner demon was growing impatient. It wanted more control, more freedom to do as it pleased. It made sense, in a way. Rin more than anyone understood what it felt like to be trapped. He would never wish that upon anyone, not even his inner demon. He supposed though, that if it felt that restricted then he most likely felt the same way... probably. He just didn't understand it the way his demon did. It was hard for Rin to accept the inner demon as part of himself and he figured he'd probably never accept it.

But now that it was gone, Rin had no idea what to do. As much as he hated the inner demon, it often, no more than often, had the right instincts. When Rin didn't know what to do it would always point him in the right direction, even if Rin didn't believe it at the time. More than anything he wanted that feeling back. Wanted someone to tell him how to fix this, or at the very least tell him to get out of bed and do something, anything. He was so lost, and he needed someone to guide him in the right direction. But everyone was gone, including the voice and Rin truly felt like he wanted to disappear with them too.

He closed his eyes and fell back into sleep for a fifth time.


	2. Chapter 1: A day in the life of Gehenna

**Location: ?**

**Year x110**

It was dark. He had to rub his eyesa few times just to make sure they were actually open. Everything was pitch black. He walked in a direction. How long he was walking, he couldn't tell. There was nothing in this void. No grasp of time, no feel and no end.

A bright blue flash cut the path in front of him. Flames rose before him and spread to the sides of him. His head whipped back and forth. Those oh so very familiar blue flames engulfed the darkness that surrounded him. He growled a warning. He was not going to be consumed by his own his flames.

_Your flames?_

An irritated mans voice.

_You dare believe that we are yours._

An equally annoyed woman's voice.

He turned in a circle looking for the voices origin, but found nothing. Nothing but the continuously roaring flames as they grew brighter and hotter.

_That you control us._

A pair of children's voices, uniformly spoken.

_Ridiculous_

An old woman.

_Preposterous_

A elderly man.

_Absolutely insane_

A condescending voice.

His eyes widened. He was scared. He was trapped somewhere with his flames closing in on him, with no way of escape.

_Now you're afraid_

A laugh

_We will have no such wielder that gives in to fear_

A growl

_Who do you think you are_

_A human_

"Yes!" He cried. His whole body shook and his tail was curled between his legs.

_What do you think you are_

_A demon_

"No! I'm not a demon!" There was desperation in his voice. Memories flashed before his eyes.

"Demon" "Doesn't belong" "Should just die" "Better off without him" "Son of Satan"

_Who are you soulless one_

A calm neither masculine, feminine, young, nor old voice.

_Who are you_

The words rang through his head. They made him dizzy and jumbled his thoughts.

_Who are you_

"I'm Rin! Rin Okumura!" He thought he shouted, but it came out as a whispered plea.

The flames around him died down and the voices stopped. He was again left in the darkness. Alone, scared, and wanting the void to consume him.

He crouched down and raised both hands to his head. His tail still tucked between his legs and a few tears dripping down his cheeks.

_Who are you soulless one_

"I- I don't know."

/ Line Break /

**Gehenna: Capital, Ente Isla**

**Year x360**

It was said that Gehenna was a mirror world of Assiah, and to some extent that was true. Gehenna was darker both in colors and in morals. It had a red sun and blue moon. Much of Gehenna was wastelands or forest. The trees were hundreds of feet taller than a tree in Assiah. The trees that weren't bare had dark colored leaves. Many low level or solitary demons resided in these forests and wastelands. It wasn't all bare though, the kingdoms of the demon kings and the capital of Gehenna, Ente Isla, were alight with demons activity.

The capital of Gehenna, was a vast place where many different species of demons, high and low level alike, congregated. It was also where the king of all demons lived. The castle, where the king lived, lies at the heart of Ente Isla, surrounded by forests. The rest of the capital was the city, where the demos lived and worked.

While all the demons went about their daily activities, the Royal Guard rushed about looking for two demons in particular. These two demons were both very powerful and very dangerous. They had been spotted running away from the castle where the king resided. They were ordered to retrieve the duo and return them to the castle for punishment. However, the two were quick. The runaway demons had fled from the castle to the bustling city below. Once they entered the city, the guards had lost sight of them. It wasn't too surprising, one of them was a master of shadows, even if he didn't appear to be. The other, while by no means subtle, was surprisingly or maybe not, able to keep himself under control when running from the guards.

Even so the guards were a little impressed, though they would never admit it, no one was saying anything about the runaway's presence. The citizens wouldn't have necessarily been afraid of the two, but by status alone they would have been normally gossiping. The two really were determined to keep a low profile, much to the annoyance of the guards.

Iblis the King of Fire, and Rin the King of Shadows were currently on the run. The Guards were ordered by the King of Gehenna, to send the King of Fire back to his own kingdom, and return the youngest prince back to the castle. The two were not about to let that happen.

The two kings snuck through the city. Iblis wore punk close and kept his red hair spiked. His family said he was going through a phase. A hundred years ago you would have found the King of Fire usually shirtless with his long red hair down. So yes, a phase.

Rin wore a black t-shirt, jeans, jacket, and combat boots. His style stayed virtually the same throughout the years. The two ran through the city ducking in and out of alleyways in order to not draw attention to themselves. If they were caught now they didn't know when their next chance to escape would be. Their father was nothing if not persistent. And he would be angry with them for disobeying his orders anyway, mix that with this escape stunt they were currently pulling, he would not be happy, to put it mildly.

The two were headed towards the train that would take them out of the capital. They quickly passed through another abandoned alleyway. The train station was just in sight. Rin was about to jump out of the shadows and make a break for it, when Iblis grabbed him by one arm and put his hand over the younger demons mouth. He held Rin close as he leaned against the wall. Iblis released Rin's arm and pointed up. Rin's eyes followed the motion. There were several Guards on the rooftops surrounding the station. Iblis put his finger to his own mouth signaling for silence. Rin nodded mutely in compliance. Iblis released the half demon and they stood there for a brief second trying to figure out their next move. They decided to find another way around but that was easier said than done.

Iblis looked over to the trees by the sidewalk. A dastardly grin formed on his face. Rin could almost see the lightbulb go off above his head. That was always a sign that things were about to get messy. If any other of his brothers had been there they would have run away as fast as they could. Rin however, wasn't any of his other brothers. Whenever Iblis got that look on his face things would get interesting. It usually resulted in them getting punished by their father, but it was usually worth it. However, before Rin could question him, aforementioned trees went up in bright orange-red flames. The guards on the roof immediately ran towards the flaming trees leaving a nice unguarded path to the station. With a smug laugh Iblis took off, Rin following. Several guards noticed them flee, and quickly went after them.

A whistle blew, signaling that the train was about to depart. Iblis jumped on one of the guards, that had gotten in his way, and used him as momentum to leap onto the top of the train. The guards were in front of Rin. The train started to move. A quick turn of the heal found Rin climbing on to the roof of a nearby building. The train started to build up speed. Rin jumped across the buildings.

"Hurry up little brother!" Iblis shouted.

With a well-timed jump Rin crashed into Iblis in a heap of limbs. Rin fell off his brother and almost off the train, but dug his claws into the cart. They steadied themselves, both relived to now be out of the guards reach.

"Think he's mad?" Rin asked, a smile threatening his lips. They both looked back and could see the castle. Several of its windows exploded in bright blue flames.

"Livid." Iblis laughed, with an evil grin, not taking his eyes of the scene.

The train was now going full speed as it left the capital, with two demon kings sitting on the roof. No one paid them any mind for it had not been the first time nor would it be the last that the two made a ruckus and used the top of the train as a getaway.

Trains in Gehenna went inhumanly fast, demons were impatient by nature, after all. No train in Assiah could even compare.

The train took them through a wasteland, then passed over a bridge. The brothers just enjoyed the ride. Rin looked over to Iblis. Though their escape was fun and all, he still wasn't sure why the fire demon brought him here.

"So...what exactly are we doing?" Rin asked. Iblis got another one was his grins.

"Well you see little brother, I need your help." He replied with a glint in his eyes.

"Yeah, I know that much but with what? And it better be good." Rin demanded. Iblis had snuck into Rin's room early that morning and if startling him awake wasn't enough, dragged him out of his room and into the Fire Kings room and ultimately ended up on the run from their father. Needless to say Rin was a little on the cranky side.

"Okay. Remember that thing I told you I found in Azazel's library? Well... We're going to find it." He said excitedly, while observing his younger brothers expressions.

"That's why we're here?" Rin crossed his arms.

"You disappointed?" Iblis asked a little cautiously.

"Hell no, this is awesome!" Rin gave his signature goofy grin and Iblis relaxed. While he knew his younger brother pretty well, he had woken him up rather abruptly. And if there's one thing you don't do, it is startle a sleeping demon.

"We'll finally have some dirt on Azazel." Iblis was ecstatic. But just like that Iblis's joyful expression turned into one of panic. With a swift movement he leaped from the train.

"What the..." Rin began. He looked behind him and saw the rapidly approaching mountain. With a look similar to Iblis's, Rin back-flipped off the train seconds away from colliding with the mountain. The train went through the mountain as Rin and Ibis landed in the forest below. Trains in Gehenna also didn't work the same way as the ones in Assiah. Tracks were not always built around obstacles, nor were mountains dug out to build tunnels. Most of the time trains just fazed through them. The catch, though, was that you had to be in the train carts for you to faze with it.

"We'll I guess we're walking from here." Iblis laughed.

The two demon brothers started walking through the woods laughing about their destructive escape from the guards and the city. As they went Rin couldn't help but think back on his time in Gehenna. He had been living in this world for a good two hundred and fifty years, and this was hardly the first time he and Iblis caused a ruckus and it would be far from the last.

When he really thought about it, his days spent in Gehenna were some of his best memories. When he had first been taken from Assiah, he was far too depressed to even care where he was or what would happen to him.

His brothers helped pull him out of that way of thinking. He wasn't quite sure what he would have done with out their guidance. They shaped him into the demon king he was today. They trained and taught him. His brothers were there when he had first awoken in Gehenna and were there when he officially became a demon king and his flames were released from their bindings.

Rin wasn't even sure when it happened, but somewhere along the way he stopped seeing his brothers as the evil Demon Kings, and saw them as just that, his eight crazy older brothers. That didn't mean he forgot about his twin, just the opposite in fact. He missed Yukio, and all the exwires. He may have not been able to call them true friends, but he still missed his time spent with them. But he had long since moved on.

"Well here we are." Iblis broke Rin out of his thoughts. "Do you're thing little brother."

Rin walked up to the giant wall that separated the king of spirits domain from the surrounding forests. In several places along the wall were entry and exit point, though there were no doors. It was kind of like the train, they just had to walk through it. The problem was that all these points were guarded by statue like demons, and they wouldn't let just anyone in. The entry point the two had chosen was guarded by a lioness statue, that just so happen to really like Rin.

"Hey, would you mind if we went through?" Rin asked the lion. She purred and let them pass.

"Oh, and would you do me a favor and not tell anyone you saw us?" She gave him a stern look. She knew that if he didn't want others to know then he was either playing pranks on the King of Spirits, or hiding from someone who had already fallen victim to one of his tricks.

"All right you got me. Here you go." He through her some rocks he had picked up along the way, her favorite snack. With a grin she agreed not to tell. For the King of Shadows, her silence was easily bought.

Once in Azael's territory, they headed straight for his castle, to his library more specifically. Before they went in to Azael's castle, Rin unzipped his jacket and a little head popped out.

"Hey, Kuro I need you to do something for me. I need you to be a lookout of Azael." He said with a mischievous grin. Kurro crawled out of Rin's jacket and he held him in his arms.

**"You got it."** The cat sidhe replied happily. He jumped out of Rin's grip and ran off to keep watch.


	3. Chapter 2: Hell's Library

**Gehenna: Satan's Castle, training ring**

**Year x112**

"Wow, you really have no control." Iblis laughed as he watched Rin desperately try to manipulate the fire on some candles. The young half demon only growled in frustration.

"Now I see why father wanted me to help you first. If you have no control over fire in general, you'll never be able to wield the blue flames." Iblis was honestly amazed at just how much the exorcists had messed up the boy. He had no idea the power he was capable of. The exorcists had scared him into submission and then completely broken him when his usefulness was gone.

"I don't get it. How am I supposed to make this fire bigger? It's not even mine." Rin stared frustratedly into the orange flame of the candles. He was grateful that he was finally doing some training with his flames, it had been nearly two years since he had been brought to Gehenna, but this is not what he had in mind. At first, they wanted him to learn more about Gehenna and its ways of life and the demon's that resided there, before he learned control of his flames. He supposed it made sense, he wasn't really in a good state of mind then. He probably wouldn't have been able to summon his flames anyway.

This however, made no sense. Iblis had brought him to a training room took a match and lighted some candles. Why the Fire King didn't use his own flames, he wasn't sure. The older demon had simply told him to make the flames grow. How was he supposed to control fire that wasn't his?

They had been at this for a few hours with no progress. Iblis had to remind himself that with Rin's upbringing he would not have the same understanding or instincts as a regular fire demon. He needed to change tactics.

"Okay then." He thought for a moment. "Alright get up."

Rin did so. Iblis tossed him Kurikara.

"Now draw it." He continued. Rin was a bit confused but did as instructed. His flames instantly surrounded him. "Now take a battle stance."

Again, Rin did as he was told. He was preparing for the worst. He knew he couldn't defeat a Demon King in battle, but he also knew this one wouldn't try to kill him. Or at least he hoped he wouldn't.

Rin watched with caution as Iblis raised his hand. In a calm steady motion, Iblis held is palm out to Rin then in another equally fluid motion closed his hand.

Rin's flames instantly went out.

His eyes went wide, and he looked from his drawn sword to Iblis then back again.

"What the - How did you..." Rin stuttered.

"Fire is wild, fierce and powerful. And will only bend to someone of greater will." Iblis let his red fire dance in his hand. "If you're weak it will consume you."

Rin sheathed his sword and watched the flame in Iblis's hand.

"Every flame is different; no two flames are the same. It is forever changing." Iblis still saw the confusion in Rin's face, so he continued his explanation.

"Fire starts off young and weak. It grows stronger with time then grows old before diminishing completely. If cared for right, it can stay aflame for a very long time. But if left unfed and abandoned, it will go out forever."

Rin still wasn't sure he understood. Iblis saw this.

"Hold out your hands." Iblis said. Rin showed him is palms. Iblis slowly and gently placed the red-orange flame in Rin's hands.

Rin stood there too amazed to move as he watched Iblis cradle the flame around his hands. He had never felt anything like this. It was fire in his hands. He had felt his blue flames more than once in his hands, but nothing like this. The fire was gentle and calm. It felt comforting, but also commanding. He wasn't so foolish as to believe that it could never hurt him. He knew that if Iblis released his hold on the flame then it would burn him and everything around.

That's when an inkling of understanding hit him.

The flames reflected their user. Iblis was calm and understanding, but was also a teacher, a protector. But if he chose, Iblis could destroy everything in his path. Just like his fire.

Iblis saw the look in Rin's eyes and smiled to himself.

"Now that's better isn't it, little brother."

/ Line Break /

**Gehenna: Azazel's Library**

**Year x360**

Azazel's library wasn't your average bookshelf. The shelves seemed to stretch endlessly towards the ceiling and closer to the top they started going horizontal, they curved around each other, and seemed to be in impossible shapes and angles. Books of all kinds could be found here. From the history of Assiah and Gehenna, to mathematics and physics, to cook books and children's stories, to spell books and ancient scrolls. Every book of every kind could be found there. The book the two demon kings were looking for, however, was more of a personal matter.

"So basically, we're looking Azazel's diary."

"Pretty much. It was a brown leather book. Looked old. Now stop yapping and start looking." Iblis slapped a hand on Rin's shoulder before jumping and climbing up one of the bookshelves.

"I hate reading." Rin commented to himself.

"I can't hear you from down there." Iblis laughed sarcastically as he through a book down on Rin's head.

Rin growled in annoyance, but stared to climb one of the bookshelves too. Together they rifled through the library in search of leather journal.

While the two Demon Kings were in the library, Kuro was stealthily keeping watch for the King of Spirits. He knew that Azazel would most likely be in the garden this time of day, so that's where he went. He was not disappointed. He crouched low under one of the taller, more leafy plants and kept watch.

Azazel was tending to his plants, when a spirit came looking for him. In Azazel's kingdom, the inhabitants were mostly spirits, ghost, or something related to the afterlife. Out of all the demon kings the king of spirits was probably, no definitely, the calmest and most rational. Azazel had white hair and typically dress a little bit more old fashioned.

"Sir," the spirit greeted, "I thought I should inform you that the King of Fire and the King of Shadows are currently inside your library."

"Is that so." He didn't look away from the plant.

"And the royal guard is currently on a manhunt for the King of Shadows." It continued.

Azazel sighed and placed the watering can down. With the way his two younger brothers behaved, he honestly shouldn't have been surprised.

"That will be all" He dismissed the spirit.

He had a pretty good idea why his two younger brothers were in his domain. They had been overly obsessed over a particular book after they had seen him writing in it then placing it under lock and key. However, he wasn't exactly sure why the royal guard was after Rin. But if Iblis was involved, and he usually was, it was probably something stupid and destructive.

As he walked off, he saw Kuro trying to hide. With another sigh he grabbed the poorly hidden cat, before he had a chance to warn the others.

**"I'll never talk!"** Kuro shouted as he squirmed. Azazel paid him no mind as he held him by the scruff.

Azazel walked into his library and saw his brothers climbing the shelves. Irritated, he walked underneath them and slammed his fist on the shelf. Kuro had wisely stopped struggling at this point as to not anger the King of Spirits anymore than he already was. The sudden disturbance caused Iblis to lose his balance and fall, dragging Rin with him. They fell right in front of Azazel. Rin had fallen first, face down on the floor with Iblis landing directly on top of him. Azazel had chosen this moment to release his hold on the cat. Kuro scampered off and out of the castle, deciding his services were no longer needed.

"Azazel! What are you doing here?" Iblis laughed nervously.

"What am I doing in my castle, in my kingdom?" Azazel crossed his arms and looked down at him.

"Well isn't that convenient." Iblis did his best innocent smile, while still laying on top his little brother.

"Indeed. Now tell me, what are you doing here?" Azazel wasn't quite sure what to do with them. He knew that they meant no real harm, but likewise they could not just break into his castle. He had a schedule to keep and honestly they could be a pain sometimes.

Iblis rested his chin on his hand, which was conveniently propped up on Rin's head.

"Well, you see..." He didn't get to finish his sentence, because Rin had kicked him across the room.

"You're heavy." Rin spat. He got up in a sitting position as he stretched his back.

"Tell me youngest brother, why is the royal guard hunting you?" Azazel inquired, quickly changing the topic from breaking and entering to manhunt.

Rin stood up and crossed his arms.

"The old man's completely unfair. All I said was that Iblis and I were going to hang out, and suddenly I'm on lockdown and Iblis isn't allowed near me." Rin huffed truly not understanding why he and Iblis couldn't be together, they weren't going to do anything bad. Though, if he had asked anyone else they would have told him it was because when the two were together, things tended to get messy.

"That's because the last time you two were together you burned down half of the West Forest." Azazel replied rubbing the bridge of his nose. Yes, his brothers really were out of control sometimes.

"What are you talking about the forest looks better now." Iblis said while rubbing his head recovering from being thrown across the room.

Azazel started lecturing his brothers on why they couldn't break out of the castle and break into his kingdom. The two destructive kings just rolled their eyes. This was not the first time they had heard this speech in the past two hundred and fifty years.

The window behind Azazel flew open.

"Hey did ya hear! Rin and Iblis escaped the... Oh, I guess you already know." Egyn King of Water said as he sat in the window.

Great this is exactly what the king of spirits needed... another brother in his domain.

Egyn had long aqua colored hair that he kept in a high ponytail. He dressed similar to a genie and his shirt only covered the top half of his chest. He was also always barefoot.

"Egyn. What are you doing here?" The now very irritated Azazel asked. Egyn crawled out of the window and went over to them.

"I came to gossip, but I see there's no need." He draped an arm over Rin and had a mischievous grin. "So, what did you two do?"

"Father said we weren't allowed to hang out." Rin answered.

"Well, that's because the last time you two were together you burned half the west forest." Egyn released his hold and shook his head. He should have expected it to be something like this.

"It looks better now." Iblis mumbled, though they heard they chose not to comment.

They were interrupted by a spirit who came in and told, the now four demon kings, that the royal guard was approaching.

"I'm not covering for you." Azazel stated in a monotone voice. He then walked off to find the guards.

"Stupid Azazel." Iblis frowned. He turned towards Rin, only to find him missing. Confusion dominated his facial features, then it turned to anger, as he saw Egyn dragging Rin by the arm down the hall, smiles plastered on both their faces.

"Hey! Wait for me!" He shouted after his brothers.

Almost as soon as Azazel left the library he heard shouting and something... many things breaking. As he walked down the halls a devious smiled formed on his lips. The childish antics of his younger brothers never ceased to amaze him.

At the entrance to the castle Azazel was greeted by the guards.

"We are looking for the youngest prince." One of them stated.

"I see." Azazel grinned, an idea forming. He wasn't sure why, but he would blame it their childish ways rubbing off on him, or perhaps it was nostalgia. Maybe he himself was just as immature.

"Sorry, but I don't know where he has gone."

/ Line Break /

**So I'm going to have each chapter start off with some sort of flashback about Rin and his life in Gehenna. I was originally going to make that a separate book, but had no real ideas or plot for that. So instead of posting a half assed story, I decided to add it to the original in hopes of enhancing it.**

**Anyway thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 3: Unwanted Company

**So I think I forgot to mention that this is not a crossover, I just really like the name Ente Isla. **

**Also thanks so much for reading! I'm glad you guys like it so far! **

**/Line Break/**

**Gehenna: Satan's castle, infirmary**

**Year x113**

Rin sat there holding his right arm. It was bloody and sore. Iblis did not hold back when it came to combat training. He had said it was because he wanted Rin to be prepared for the worst, but he had a suspicion that Iblis sometimes just didn't know how to hold back. A trait they seemed to share.

Egyn was also in the infirmary. He was mixing up some herbs into a paste. When he was finished he walked back over to the half demon and took Rin's arm in his hand.

"Ow." Rin said with a twitch and instantly pulled back his arm.

"I can't help you if you don't let me see." Egyn held out his hand to Rin, who reluctantly uncovered his wound. Egyn gently took a cloth, dabbed it in some water and began cleaning the wound.

"Ow." Rin clenched his teeth.

"Sorry. I'm being as gentle as I can." The King of Water tried to sooth.

"Ow." He bit his lip, trying to distract himself. Egyn had finished wiping off the blood, he set down the cloth and began applying the paste.

"For the love of...Stop that! It hurts!" Rin struggled to remove his arm, but Egyn's grip was tight and he couldn't pull free.

"There, done." Egyn laughed a little as he finished bandaging Rin's arm. This was not the first time he had to tend to an uncooperative brother.

Rin sat there examining the bandage and steaming just a little bit. His control of his flames had gotten a lot better over the past year, but he still was no match for the King of Fire.

"You have to be careful. Not every wound can be healed on it's own or right away." Egyn lectured as he cleaned up.

"And in a real battle my enemies will aim for the throat, yeah, yeah, I've heard this speech a hundred times." Rin finished the speech annoyed.

Egyn sighed.

"I know you know it up here." Egyn pointed to Rin's head. "But your instincts" He moved to tap Rin's heart "tell you otherwise. You use yourself as a shield, but there is no one to protect but yourself."

"I guess it was just how I understood my powers then." Rin looked down and twiddled his thumbs.

"I don't fault you, and I'm not trying to make you upset, but you need to understand how dangerous it can be. You were lucky back then."

"I just didn't want anyone to get hurt, not if I could stop it."

"You have all the noble qualities of a great king, you just need to learn how to put them into better practice." Egyn stood in front of his younger brother and placed both hands on Rin's shoulders.

"Who knew training to be a demon king was so hard." Rin laughed softly. Now that was something he never thought he would say. In the past he had been so sure that he would become an exorcists and kill the demons. Everything was in black and white, good and evil. Then the line became blurry, grey, sometimes other colors were mixed in, but nothing was clear. There was always another side to the story. And who was right and who was wrong, wasn't always so obvious, and didn't always matter as much as who was stronger.

"Why don't you take a break from training with Iblis for a bit?" Egyn asked.

"Agreed." Rin sighed.

"And train with me." He smiled.

"With this arm?" Rin gave a flat look while holding up his wound.

"Training of the mind." He poked Rin's forehead again.

"Yeah, I get enough of that with Azazel, and I don't really feel like studying." Rin rolled his eyes.

"A different type of mind." Egyn crossed his arms and smirked.

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" He raised his eyes in suspicion.

"Oh just come on." He laughed, grabbed Rin by his good arm and drug him out of the infirmary and to the gardens.

"You're all over the place, little pyro." Egyn said as he sat down in the grass. "Your mind and your power both are working energetically but not in sync."

"So how do I fix that?" Rin sighed and let himself fall back into the grass, arms spread to either side of him.

"At the moment you can't, at least not with your power sealed that is."

"So unseal it!" He through his arms in the air before letting them fall back down on the ground.

"It's not that simple and you know it. To release your power now while you still have no control could have some devastating results." He said sternly.

Rin hated it when they would say that, but he knew what he meant. He had little to no control and if the seal was broken it would no doubt overwhelm his concessions. He needed to have a better understanding of what it meant to wield the blue flames before he truly tried.

Rin rolled on his side and decided a much needed nap was in order. Egyn only shook his head and laughed softly. It was a good sign that Rin wanted his powers unbound. It meant that he was excepting his demon heritage, slowly and timidly, but embracing it none the less. Maybe one day he would even see then as family, but for now he would let the youngest rest.

/ Line Break /

**Gehenna: Wasteland outside of Azazel's kingdom**

**Year x360**

The three had ran out the back of the castle. Kuro had noticed and quickly caught up and curled himself back into Rin's jacket.

The three kings ran for a good distance, making sure they were not being followed. They had made it pretty far into one of the wastelands surrounding Azazel's kingdom, but knew it would not be long before they caught up.

"Think we lost them?" Rin asked panting with his hands on his knees.

"For now." Egyn replied also winded.

Iblis, though still tired, had regained some of his energy.

"I saw you trying to ditch me!" He slapped Rin's head.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Rin crossed his arms and looked away. Egyn rolled his eyes. How did he always get roped into babysitting these two.

"Good, I was on my way to find you." An emotionless voice sounded behind Rin.

Correction, babysitting these three.

Amaimon, King of Earth, sat on a large boulder sucking on a lollipop. How he had managed to find them Egyn wasn't sure, but he supposed it had something to do with the Earth King's unnatural ability to always be able to locate the youngest.

"I need to make trip to Assiah and get more candy." Why else would he need to go to Assiah? "And I just happen to know where a Gehenna Gate is opening."

Every now and then a gate leading to Assiah would open of its own accord. It would appear randomly, and only stay open for a short time. It wasn't exactly like the gate Satan opened. It was smaller and didn't draw the exorcists attention. It was that method that found many low level demons leaving Gehenna and ending up in Assiah. Each king could make their own opening to Assiah and Rin could summon the Gehenna gate, but that took a lot of energy. It was much easier to use a gate that was already there, if you were lucky enough to stumble upon one.

"Absolutely not!" Egyn shouted. He could only suspect that the knowledge of the gates location had been provided by Samael. And if he was involved, he knew it would only result in more trouble. Not to mention their father would be less than pleased to find his runaway sons in Assiah. "No one is leaving Gehenna without father's permission. And seeing how well the pyro's here have pissed him off, I don't think that's going to happen."

"Come on Egyn don't be like that." Rin whined.

"By the way, why are the guards chasing you?" Amaimon inquired.

"Father won't let Iblis and I hang out." Rin gestured to himself and the fire king.

"That's probably because the last time you guys were together you burned half the west forest." Amaimon said in his same bored voice.

"Why does everyone keep saying that! It looks better now!" Iblis yelled. He was getting really irritated with that answer.

"Hey guys." Rin interrupted, but was ignored.

"How does it look better?" Amaimon asked, unimpressed.

"How doesn't it!" Iblis shouted back.

"Hey guys..." Rin said a little more urgently, but still no one was listening.

"That doesn't make sense." Amaimon responded a little confused. It was then that Iblis grabbed him by the collar and yanked him off the rock. Egyn crossed his arms and sighed.

"Hey Guys!" Rin this time yelled, it got their attention. "I think they found us." Rin warned as he pointed behind them, where the guards could clearly be seen closing in on them.

"The gates that way." Amaimon gestured in the opposite direction.

"Don't you dare!" Egyn tried to stop them, but they had already started running. He chased after his younger brothers, who were determined to make it to Assiah and anger their father even more.

As they ran they could see the gate open. It would only stay open for a few minutes. Amaimon wasted no time and quickly jumped in, not bothering to see if the others were following, because he was certain they were.

"No!" Egyn yelled as Amiamon went through.

Ibis was next to jump in.

"No!" He screamed again in a desperate attempt to stop another brother. He quickly turned to Rin. "Don't you even dare!"

Rin, without hesitation or heeding his older brother's warning, jumped through the gate.

"You little-" Egyn shouted, but the rest of the sentence was lost to Rin. The guards were quickly approaching. He looked at them and then back at the gate. He face palmed and considered the consequences of going with them or staying behind. With a deep sigh and a hand over his eyes, he jumped in after them. He convinced himself he was only going to make sure his brothers didn't do anything stupid, well stupider.

One of the biggest problems with using a gate was that not only did it appear randomly, but it also opened somewhere randomly in Assiah. This gate happened to open up hundreds of feet in the air. But that wasn't a problem for the Demon Kings.

"Hey look who joined the party." Iblis laughed. He was lying back with his hands behind his head as if he was on the ground.

"I knew you'd change your mind." Rin agreed. He too was lying down but on his side as he fell through the air.

"I'm only here to make sure you three behave and don't do anything stupid." Egyn crossed his arms and sat cross-legged.

"Sure, you are." Rin mocked.

"Ground." Was the only warning an upside-down Amaimon gave before they crashed onto the forest floor below them.

After regaining their footing, and a little more arguing, they headed towards the nearest town, which luckily wasn't too far away. The first thing they noticed when they reached the outskirts of the city were the strong wards put in place. That could only mean one thing. There was a strong exorcist base within the walls of the city. Had they been less stubborn, they may have turned around and found another city to bother, but that was not the case. The barriers, while strong were still no match for the four kings to break through.

The first thing Rin and Amaimon did was separated from the other two and run off to find the nearest candy store. Despite it being their first time in this city, it took them no time at all to locate said store.

Once there they received some odd looks from the owner, but paid no attention. After confusing the owner of the shop enough to convince him to give them the candy for free, the two left to explore the rest of the town.

Out of all his brothers, Rin and Amaimon got along the best. Maybe it was because Rin had a longer history with him, or the fact that they were both childish, though that could be said about all his brothers. When he really thought hard, it was probably also because Amaimon was the one that saved him and brought him to Gehenna. And as he was transitioning to his new life in Gehenna Amaimon stayed by his side when he needed someone the most.

Egyn and Iblis had lost track of the two and were searching the city for them. The first place they thought to look was the candy store, though they had no such luck. After striking out there, they headed further into town, in search of a commotion they knew would eventually lead them to the others. In the middle of looking for their younger brothers, Egyn suddenly froze.

"What is it?" Iblis asked, he knew nothing good could come from that look.

Egyn lifted his nose and sniffed the air. The wind carried the scent of holy water and sliver, a smell that always seemed to follow the exorcists.

"Company." Egyn warned.


	5. Chapter 4: A Twisted Fate

**I LIVE! You guys have been incredibly patient with me and I really appreciate it. You all are the best readers anyone could ask for. I'm not promising to update more often, but I'm going to try.**

**Anyway, enjoy this next chapter!**

**/Line Break/**

**Gehenna: Satan's Castle, Library**

**Year: x115**

Rin hated this part of his training. If someone had asked him a hundred years ago if demons had to do homework, he would have laughed. But that is exactly what was happening. Rin was sitting in the library of Satan's castle, book in hand, while Azazel sat across from him. He apparently needed "supervising" as his brothers would say.

The book he was reading wasn't particularly interesting. It was something to do with a war fought between demons. He found it just a little boring because most of the demons mentioned were all still alive, after all a demons lifespan was nearly infinite. If he needed to know something about an event in Gehenna's history couldn't he just ask a demon that was there? Why did he need to learn every little detail. Though he already was aware that if he asked Azazel he would simply state that it was a prince's duty to know all of Gehenna's history. That and the fact that he wasn't born during these times made it a necessity for him to learn since he couldn't experience it.

Besides why he had to homework, Rin had another question on his mind. He felt a little awkward asking, like it was taboo since no one had ever brought up this topic. But since when had being blunt ever stopped him.

"So, what happens when a demon dies?" Rin curiously peeked over the book he was supposed to reading to observe Azazel's reaction.

The King of Spirits nearly choked his tea. Rin would have laughed at the display, had he not been so worried about why his older brother made that expression. Azazel blinked in confusion for a moment, set down his cup and composed himself.

"And what brings this on little brother?" He asked cautiously.

"Well you see, I was reading this book and it got me thinking about how you said you would not be able to find their souls since they were exorcists and all." He paused. Azazel wasn't sure he liked the direction this was going. "So it got me thinking, what about demon souls?"

Azazel sighed. This was going to be a long talk.

"It doesn't quite work like that."

"Then how does it work?" Rin was a little to quick to respond for Azazel's liking.

"It doesn't." He knew that wouldn't suffice the curious half demon, but he wasn't quite sure how to explain it.

Demons were born with this knowledge, it never needed to be explained. He hadn't really thought about Rin's lack of understanding. The boy was making such excellent progress in his studies, combat, and controlling his flames that sometimes it was easy to forget that he wasn't a full demon and wasn't born knowing certain fundamentals. Rin still had a problem with his instincts too when Azazel thought about it. Sometimes the demon half and the human half would try to resolve things differently and that left Rin often fighting with himself. But he could worry about that later, the inner peace would likely come in time, the longer Rin stayed in Gehenna. Now, however, he had to deal with the immediate problem of explaining death.

Rin narrowed his eyes.

"Any time you want to start making scenes dear elder brother I'm listening." Rin closed his book and placed it on the table with a bit of annoyance.

The King of Spirits gave another sigh.

"Nothing happens." He still was thinking how to best explain.

"What?"

"Nothing happens. I can't find a demon's soul, because we don't have one."

"So just poof, gone?" Rin's confusion was apparent.

"Essentially." Azazel could feel a headache coming on. He had a suspicious feeling he should get used to that in the next coming centuries.

He realized Rin was still far from understanding.

"There is no after life, because there is no life. We are not alive, nor are we dead, but something in between. Demons are soulless." He hoped this would satisfy the younger demon and he would drop the topic.

_Who are you soulless one_

A voice resonated in Rin's mind. It was faint and distant and he could only vaguely picture where he had heard it before.

It made him feel sick. It set his nerves on edge and drilled a hole in his stomach and for no logical reason that he could fathom. It was just there and it was nauseating.

He apparently looked sick too. Azazel had been carefully observing his younger brother ever since the conversation started and the change in atmosphere did not go unnoticed.

"Are you okay?" He received no answer except the hollow glaze that formed over Rin's eyes. Perhaps he had explained that poorly. He hadn't really thought about how Rin might deal with the fact that demons weren't really alive, that Rin wasn't really alive. He was still getting used to calling himself a demon and as excepting as Rin had been in the past years, he was still struggling.

"Rin?" He placed a hand on his shoulder and gently nudged him. Again no response from the boy. Azazel was starting to really worry.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Rin shook off his trance. Azazel could see that it was clearly a lie.

"Perhaps, I should rephrase that." Azazel started. Rin shook his head.

"No I think I kinda get it. It just reminded me of something else." Rin whispered as he looked down, his eyes still glossy and unfocused.

"Of what exactly?" The worried demon king asked.

Rin opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He wasn't even sure himself what it reminded him of. But he didn't like it.

The King of Spirits could tell there was something wrong and that the boy wasn't quite sure how to explain, or maybe he truly didn't know the reason.

"I think we can stop on your studies for today. Why don't you go get some rest."

Rin nodded and left the library and headed towards his room. As he left Azazel couldn't help but wonder what it was that had spooked the boy. He would have been more concerned, but he knew in time Rin would share.

He no sooner closed the door to his room when a sharp pain hit his head. He learned back on the door to steady himself. Rin through one hand up to cover his face and left the other scratching the door.

_who are you soulless one_

That voice. The same sickening voice. He didn't know what it was or what it wanted, but he hated it.

_who_

Who was he? Rin wasn't even sure anymore. A human? No, but he wasn't a demon either. And that was the problem. He wasn't one or the other.

_are_

He was neither and both at the same time and his mind couldn't cope. His demonic family encouraged his demon behaviors, but he could never quite shake off his human upbringing.

_you_

He was losing himself more each day. His memories were wrapped around his exorcist training and his demon heart was sealed away. It made it harder to give in to the demon he was when part of his consciousness rejected it.

_soulless_

But was it actually a loss if he want it, yearned for it even. His mind would always remember the good things about growing up human, with his brother, with his so called friends. Then it would switch. He would remember the betrayal, the pain, the death sentence handed to him when his usefulness was gone.

_one_

Rin was useless to the demons now as he was, powerless and uneducated by their standards. But they never through him away. They kept him close and guarded. They taught and nurtured his growth.

They gave him a chance.

Rin slide down to the floor and pulled his legs to his chest. He curled his tail close to him, hugged his knees and buried his face in his hands as he failed to stop the tears.

Who was he?

Rin didn't want to think about it, but couldn't stop himself from trying to find the answer desperately he wanted.

/ Line Break/

**Assiah: Forest outside of true cross city**

**Year xx10**

It was supposed to be simple.

Why did things never seem to work out that way? Yukio had taken the exwires on a training mission. They were going to do a simple exorcism on some simple low-class demons. It all started normally, Rin and Bon were fighting, the others were trying to talk them down, and Shura was edging them on. Pretty routine for their group.

So how did things go so wrong? Why were they now battling a high-class demon? Yukio knew something was wrong the minute he saw Rin's instincts on high alert and had those instincts not reacted Rin would have no doubt been killed. The spider like demon seemed to appear out of no where and instantly started attacking. He and Shura immediately started their counter attack, but it had no effect. Soon the others joined in the fight.

One by one each exwire began to fall. Shima and konekomaru were the first to go down. Shiemi tried to help. She had Nii make a barrier around them but the little greenman was no match for this demon. The mutated spider tore through the barrier like it was wet paper, incapacitating Nee in the process, and forcing him back to Gehenna. Shiemi was the next to be trapped. Yukio fired shot after shot, but it didn't do anything. Izumo and Bon were the next to be caught. Shura's special sword technique did nothing. It was nothing more than a gentle breeze to the demon, she was the next to fall. Yukio couldn't tell if Rin was angry or afraid. But what he could see was the red cloth sliding away from the sword and hitting the ground.

Yukio knew that if Rin fought, there would be dire consequences. He couldn't afford to lose control here, not when he was on such a short leash. Solitary confinement would be the least of his worries, he would have to avoid execution.

Yukio watched in horror as his older twin drew his sword and blue flames covered his body. Rin wasted no time and attacked. He swung the sword at the monster repeatedly, but it did nothing. His blue flames grew more out of control the angrier he became, burning everything they touched. The spider, however, wasn't even phased. Rin's flames were just as useless as everything else they had tried. The thought that there was something out there that Satan's flames couldn't destroy almost terrified Yukio, but he steeled his nerves and pressed on.

It was up to Yukio, and an out of control Rin to stop this monster. His flames grew hotter and started consuming everything around him. Rin's ferocious growl filled Yukio's ears. Yukio fired another burst of bullets, that were again useless. As He reloaded, the demon was able to grab him and encase him as well. The spider dropped Yukio to the ground and the last thing he saw was an out of control blue flame spewing Rin, then everything went dark.

/Line Break/

**Year: ?**

**Location: ?**

Yukio's eyes were blurry as they slowly opened. Bright light flooded his vision and he immediately regretted the action and closed them again. Every part of his body felt heavy. He forced himself to open his eyes again, this time slower and pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Yuki." He flinch when he heard a timid voice. Yukio had thought he was alone, but some part of him was glad that he wasn't. He didn't have to see who it was to know that the voice belonged Shiemi.

"What happened?" He asked in a tired voice.

"I... I don't know." She responded. "No one does." It was then that Yukio's vision had cleared up enough to see that all the other exwires and Shura were there. They were in a large hospital room. Everyone else to his surprise and relief were already awake.

"Last thing I remember is that spider demon attacking." Bon entered the conversation. At the mention of the demon konekomaru flinched.

"What was that thing?" Shima did his best to sound strong, but couldn't help the whimper that followed.

"I don't know. Nothing we did had any effect on it. It completely annihilated us." Izumo was upset at the outcome. She had tried so hard, but in the end she was useless and the demon overpowered her.

"The important thing is that we're all here and alive." Shura immediately realized her mistake, they weren't all there. She shut her mouth tightly and waited for Yukio to realize it too.

Yukio looked around the room. Bon, Shima, Konekomaru, Izumo, Shiemi, and Shura. A feeling of dread filled in the pit of his stomach. He swallowed hard before asking.

"Where's Rin?" He was afraid of the answer, but he needed to know.

They all exchanged glances. The exwires in shame, for they had yet to notice the absence of one of their own. Shura gave a worried look to Yukio.

"I don't know." She admitted. They all had only just woken up that day. "There was a doctor in here earlier, but I was too out of it to ask anything."

"I'm afraid something bad might have happened to him." Yukio looked down at his hands.

"What do you mean." Sheimi was worried for her friend.

"The last thing I remember." The others looked towards him, anxious. "Rin was being consumed by his flames. If he didn't calm down or one of use didn't stop him, I'm afraid of what other exorcists would have done to stop him." He folded his hands together.

The door opened revealing the doctor and several exorcists.

"Good you are all awake." The doctor was blunt and to the point.

"What's going on?" Yukio was worried, more for his brother than himself.

"Once he finishes checking everyone's vitals I'll explain." Said the exorcist in front as he gestured to the doctor.

The doctor went around to everyone in the room. He was efficient and finished checking on them in no time.

"The good news is that everyone's fine, the bad news is that you'll all need to stay put until you've recovered completely." He said. Relief washed over them all. The last thing they needed was to be infected by that spider demon. They could handle a few days of bed rest.

"Allow me to explain." The head exorcist walked up to them. "But first, how much of the events before waking up do you remember?"

It was Shura that responded.

"I'd say we all remember being attacked and nearly killed by that spider demon pretty well." She was a little annoyed that he would ask such a question.

"Well that's the short version, but there's a little more to it than that." The exorcist stated.

"What do you you mean?" Shura's tone was a little dark, but she could tell they were hiding something.

"You all were cocooned in a demon spider silk substance. Nothing anyone did had any effect on it. That is until one of my brilliant teammates accidentally spilled the wrong chemicals on it." They blink in confusion for a moment because this man meant it in all honesty, he was proud of the mess up, but than again so were they, or they would still be stuck.

"Our original theory was that it would drain your life force, but imagine our surprise when we found you alive. The web had the opposite affect instead of killing you it actually kept you alive."

Everyone was thrown off by that one. That crazy stuff actually kept them alive? Yukio couldn't explain why, but he had a really bad feeling now.

"How long were we cocooned?" It was Shura who asked this question. The exorcists all gave each other strange looks before the one in front spoke again.

"Well there's no easy was to say this, so I won't beat around it...You have been encased for a little over..." Over what? Days? Weeks? Months? "three hundred and fifty years." He finished.

The room was dead silent for a few seconds while everyone processed the information.

"Bull Shit." Shura was furious. Everyone agreed with here comment. Then the room erupted into chaos.

"What the hell! You expect us to believe that!" Bon challenged. There was no way they'd been stuck there for over three hundred years. If this was their idea of a prank he'd fight each one of them.

"Calm down. I figured you wouldn't believe us, so I brought some history books. It might give you something to do while you recover. In time you'll understand." He swiftly cut them off. He knew that no matter how much he explained they would never believe him, they would have to experience it themselves.

"Who does that make you then?" again it was Shura. She wasn't about to let a no name exorcist walk away after that without at least getting a name and rank.

"I am Xzavier Allamanda and I am the current Paladin. And if that will be all I leave you in the good doctor's care." He turned to leave.

"Actually... I have one more question." It was Yukio this time that stopped him. He almost didn't want to ask, but he needed to know, but at the same time he didn't. "What happened to my brother... Rin Okumura?"

The air had turned tense, and no one seemed willing to answer. They gave each other worried glances before Xzavier spoke.

"No one knows what happened to... _Him_." The way he said "him" sounded spiteful, like it physically hurt the Paladin to even say. "The demon ki- ahem" he coughed into his fist "your brother was gone before anyone arrived." Not a total lie on the paladins part, after all none of them were there.

Yukio felt nauseous as a new feeling of dread pushed it's way through. The so called paladin wa_s _clearly hiding something, but he wasn't sure if he was ready to know what.


	6. Chapter 5: Progress isn't Always Easy

Well I suck with updates, but I'm trying. To make up for it this chapter (not including the authors note) is 4643 words. That's twice as long as the others that are a little over 2000.

I feel like this chapter kind of bounces around but I'm lazy.

I promise after this chapter we go back to Rin's point of view.

Thanks for reading!

**/Line Break/**

**Gehenna: Satan's Castle, Rin's Room**

**Year: x115**

He slowly opened his eyes, an action that progressively got harder each day. Since talking with Azazel a few days ago, Rin really hadn't done much. Those voices were still on his mind, muffled and he couldn't quite remember what they were saying, but he at least this time didn't immediately forget them. He was vaguely aware that something similar had happened years ago, though the memory was foggy.

After a few more minutes of laying there he decided to get up, if only to find something to stop his headache. It didn't take him long to change and head to the infirmary. He discovered years ago that the demon world was still quite medieval in someways and very advanced in others. Though, he supposed maybe old fashioned would be a better way to describe it. Medicine was one of those area's that would seem archaic to the humans. But why change something if it worked. He would not be able to find a convenient pill that wold solve his problems, or in this case headache, but a blend of herbs and the like that would be far more effective.

When he got there he was only a little surprised to find the place empty. No one was in need of immediate assistance so there was no reason for people to stay. That was fine though, he knew enough to help himself.

He had only just opened the cabinet, when he heard loud running towards the room. Rin was still a little out of it so he didn't fully realize the situation until the door slammed open and someone ran in.

"By Gehenna's throne I swear I will find you and dislocated your arms Egyn!" A vary angry demon shouted as he ran into the room. Though the threat was not directed at him Rin still felt a little afraid as he quickly regained his senses and turned around. The other demon had realized his prey wasn't in the room but instead his frightened little brother and he immediately composed himself.

"Ah, my bad, I thought you were someone else." The demon raised one had sheepishly to his head. It took Rin a second but he finally recognized the demon as Astaroth, King of Rot. They honestly hadn't officially met. They only saw each other in passing or awkwardly across the room for a brief moment. They had met a little over a hundred years ago, but neither of them liked to think about that.

"Are you okay?" Astaroth hesitantly asked when Rin didn't respond. It wasn't that he didn't care, he just wasn't sure how to act around his youngest brother. They didn't have the greatest of meetings. This whole thing all started because Astaroth found him and forced his awakening. And if that hadn't happened, then the old Paladin that raised Rin wouldn't have died trying to stop them from taking him home, and Rin might not have rebelled so hard and turned against them.

"Yeah, I guess. My head just hurts." Rin said just as cautiously, also unsure how to act around the Demon King. Rin didn't have any real opinions of the King of Rot. He had briefly met him over a century ago, but Astaroth was a lot more outgoing and insane then. Now he was definitely a lot calmer, though judging by his outburst only a few seconds ago, he maybe was just not as excited. It was still weird for him to interact with Demon Kings so civilly. He had grown used to the presence of Amaimon, Egyn, Iblis and Azazel. Mephisto or Samael, he could only tolerate for so long, but that was just because of how eccentric he could be. The rest of his brothers were still a mystery to him, including the one before him now.

"You're head? Well I know a quick and simple remedy for that." Before he could be stopped, Astaroth grabbed the ingredients and started mixing.

"Oh no, you don't have to do that." Rin waved his arms. He felt weird having the King of Rot help him. He also wanted this awkward encounter to end as soon as possible.

"Nah, don't worry about it." He cut Rin off. "Egyn's better with this kind of stuff, but I can handle the simple things."

They stood there in silence for a while as Astaroth mixed the health cure. Then Rin noticed something about his older brother and despite his caution, he was all to quick to abandon it for his curiosity.

"Your tail's out." Rin stated bluntly. Astaroth blinked and stopped mixing, not expecting the statement, then he broke out in uncontrolled laughter.

"So...is...yours." He choked out through is uncontained laughs.

"Sorry, was that rude?" Rin blushed a little and curled his tail behind him, all of a sudden feeling exposed. He still didn't know all of demon etiquette, but most of the time, during his training, they were always telling him to tuck it in.

"I guess it depends on who you ask, but I don't care." Astaroth had recovered from his earlier outburst. Rin breathed a little sigh of relief and let his tail relax.

"I just find it really uncomfortable to keep it tucked in all the time." Astaroth let his spade tail flip in front of him before letting it fall back down behind him.

"Right! It's so annoying and my tail's always so cramped later." Rin forgot his earlier cautiousness. Astaroth fiercely nodded in agreement.

"If I'm not in a fight, then it doesn't need to be hidden." Astaroth added.

"I'd leave it out in a fight if it wasn't so damn sensitive." Rin whined.

"Ah, a demon's greatest weakness, the tail, such a shame." He shook his head. Rin agreed.

The quiet uneasiness had returned after that. Neither enjoyed it, but had no way to comfortably stop it. When he finished the mixture, he pored it into a cup and handed it to Rin.

"Here, this'll fix you up Brüderchen **(1).**"

"German? I thought that was Mephisto's thing." Rin mocked a little confused.

"Yeah, well I liked it first, he's just a follower." He said in a little bit of a huff. He honestly hadn't noticed he had said the word, it kind of just rolled off the tongue. "Anyway, I'll see ya around." He started to leave.

"Um, wait, uh." Rin lost his words. Astaroth turned around. "Um, thanks, for this." He gestured with the glass in his hand. Astaroth gave a little smile.

"Anytime." He turned and left with a wave. This was good, they were making progress. Timid and awkward, but that was okay.

The door to the infirmary closed behind him, and neither saw each others gentle, but hopeful smiles.

/ Line Break/

**Year x360**

**Assiah: Exorcist base**

Time was a funny thing and seemed to move very slowly for the young exorcists. Physically they might have been fine, but it was their mental state's that kept them in the hospital longer. Once the anger and disbelief had worn off it was replaced with absolute fear and sorrow. When they had finally accepted this future, (present?) as their new reality, it finally hit them. Everyone they knew was gone. Parents, family, friends, coworkers, all gone. Everyone in their past had lived and died without them, thinking they would meet again in the next world. It seemed that was a far stretched dream now.

The exorcists were a bit cautious with their patients. The truth of the reality was a hard one. They were afraid that the newly awakened would do something stupid like try to escape and call their bluff. But their was no lie being told. And as remarkable as it was to save them from eternity in suspension between life and death, it was something they wanted to keep hidden, more for fear of demonic intervention than publicity. Yukio, though he held no power, was still a son of Satan and the older twin may decide to play a little game if he knew of their freedom.

Yukio and the others were aware of the guards posted around the hospital. They weren't, however, dumb enough to try to escape. It had taken some time, but they were fully aware of the truth, that his was not their world. Yukio's thoughts wandered to the one person who would be mindless enough to escape, his brother, the only one who was there with them in forest but not when they woke up.

Rin wielded the blue flames, the exorcists would have kept record of him and what had happened to him. The other side of his brain would constantly tell him that if Rin had...died...then maybe the exorcists wanted to erase the devil's son, the stain on their record, out of history. Maybe no one really knew what had happened. If that was the case, why were all his questions brushed off, never answered, and always had an odd atmosphere when he brought it up. They had to know something. But with their refusal to answer, Yukio thought maybe he really didn't want to know the truth.

During their stay they were visited by the same few exorcists. Mainly the Paladin, Xzavier, and a few that were close to him, both in rank, and in their personal lives. It was easier on them to deal with the same faces and build trust in their unusual situation.

Xzavier had also made them aware of the fact that he wanted to keep this hidden, though he had done so under the guise of making their transition easier. That way they would not be followed around and treated like outsiders.

When they were finally able to leave the hospital, they wanted to immediately start training. It was the only normal and constant in their lives. Hunting and exorcising demons had not changed to drastically. But that was no surprise. The same verses still worked, summons were unique to their user, ranks and types were still the same, dragoon, tamer, doctor, and knight.

No matter how similar it was, basic exorcist training was still a challenge. A lot of knowledge had been gained over the years and much stronger anti-demon weapons had been invented. The exwires didn't really mind, considering they had never learned more advanced now primitive techniques anyway. It was Yukio and Shura that had the hardest time. In the past they were both well trained exorcists. Now they were back at the lower end of the exorcist food chain. It wasn't because of skill, Yukio and Shura had plenty of that, it was because they had been out of commission for so long that the Paladin ordered them to retrain. They didn't have enough knowledge of this new world. But, they pressed on, determined to get their ranks back. Not like there was much else they could do. Just because they were in a different time didn't mean that their desire to hunt demons had changed. Yukio, also figured it was probably the best way to find out what happened to Rin.

No matter how hard he tried, Yukio couldn't shake Rin's fate off his mind. No one would say anything about Rin and he knew that the Paladin knew more than he was saying. They always got the same general answers when they asked. "I don't know" "The records don't say" "No one was there when he disappeared." Yukio was growing more distraught every day that passed. He wasn't the only one. They were all worried about Rin. He may have been a demon but that didn't mean they didn't care. In fact, it was just the opposite, they did care and now it was too late, they'd never be able to show him. That is what really upset them. They had all treated Rin horribly, out of fear and hatred for Satan, but now that he was gone they realized they would never be able to make it up to him. Even if he was Satan's spawn, he was still part of their team, a friend even.

Another thing no one would really answer was what happened to Mephisto. They told them that a couple hundred years ago he had gotten bored of helping the exorcist, and returned to Gehenna, no one has seen him since. They were not really surprised by that answer, but it lacked detail and that's what concerned them.

None of this sat right with Yukio and the others, so they decided to take matters into their own hands. One day after training they went down to the library. They searched through exorcist's history books and anything online that they could find. Information on Mephisto was a little bit easier to find, and it was pretty much what everyone told them. However, there was one part of Sir Pheles past that intrigued them. In a dusty old book hidden in the far reaches of the library, they discovered that Rin had lived with him when they had first been cocooned. But that was it. There was nothing more about Rin. Not how long he stayed with Mephisto or what Rin did while with him. It was like someone tried to erase his existence. And that just raised more questions.

"So, they lied when they said they didn't know anything about Rin?" Surprisingly It was Izumo who spoke as she glanced back at the passage.

"Apparently. But why? Because he's the son of Satan?" Yukio didn't know what to think. He wanted to assume the worst, but he still wanted to have faith in Rin.

"I don't know. But something is definitely wrong." Shura said as Izumo handed her the book next.

"It's not like they'll tell us anything." Bon crossed his arms and leaned on the shelf.

"And if we go to them with this little bit of evidence the they will no doubt restrict us more." Yukio continued, the others agreed. They were kept on a very short leash naturally, but if the exorcists found out that they were digging through the past they would no doubt be placed under more strict surveillance.

/ Line Break/

Almost a year had passed since Yukio and the others had woken up and they were progressing quickly. Time seemed to move quicker now that they were training, but excitement was never far.

A few days ago alarms had gone off when some of the wards around the city were broken. At first no one thought anything of it. Some exorcists had gone down to investigate and get rid of the demons, but it was clear they were out of their league. Well better suited exorcists were called in for backup as at least two demon Kings had been found attacking the nearby town.

When they had gotten there, to their luck the Demon Kings were distracted and separated. In a surprise attack and and quick but deadly battle, they managed to capture the King of Water, but the other was still at large. Wounded, but not in their custody.

For Xzavier this was a real problem. The King's of Water and Fire were confirmed to be in the city. He had one of them detained the other soon to be, but he needed to know if there were others. They were a tightly knit group after all and very rarely split up. And if his suspicion was right then he had a very big problem concerning Yukio and his little group of pastlings.

Yukio and Bon were walking from the dormitories and to the dinning hall. During their route they were fixed on the topic that these exorcists were able to capture a Demon King. In the past, exorcists might have been able to expel a King from its host, but never capture. These exorcists were strong, and their more advanced weapons gave them more of an advantage then the ones they were used too. Even so, they were sure that the only reason they actually caught the demon was because the Paladin was there. His skill was on a whole different level and in truth it was both terrifying and a relief.

As they were walking past a field, they saw a group training in hand to hand combat with none other than the Paladin supervising them. They decided to take a brief detour and head down to congratulate the Paladin of his recent victory.

"So, you caught a Demon King, pretty impressive." Yukio said as he walked over to him.

"Not really." He shrugged, only slightly startled by their presence.

"No need to be modest sir." Bon joined in.

"Hm? I guess you lot wouldn't really know. I've caught Demon Kings before; it's keeping them that's tricky." He said without looking away from the training group.

"What?" Yukio was both impressed and afraid that Xzavier could catch a Demon King so easily that he would look at it like exorcising a simple goblin.

"Well it's usually one specific King that I catch, and it's mostly because he and I have a history, so he tends to put himself in more precarious situations to taunt me that make him easier to catch." For some reason that reminded them a lot of Mephisto. "This one, though, was nothing more than dumb luck." He shook his head and looked back over to the group training.

That honestly confused the two of them. Just how strong was the Paladin?

"What kind of history?" Yukio asked. Xzavier looked over with that same expression that always made Yukio suspicious.

Xzavier realized he had said too much. The Demon King in question was one that did not exist as far as they were concerned. And for as long as he could he wanted to keep it that way. How was he going to wiggle out of this one?

"Well it was a long time ago and not a very interesting tale. What I'm more concerned about is a rescue mission." He tried to quickly change the topic, but it was clear they were not buying it.

"Who would come for a Demon King?" Bon asked a little sarcastically.

"Well..." He had to stop himself from giving too much detail. "Well for one, the other King that was spotted with him. The King of Fire is still in the city somewhere. And those Kings are a tightly knit bunch, where there's one there's usually another close by." He finished.

"I don't think Demon's have enough sense to rescue one another. If anything, I would think he would force his kin to come for him. And if another King came for him, it would probably be out of obligation as a demon or to silence him." Yukio interjected. He refused to believe that demons were capable of more complex emotions like comradery. He was glad to note Bon nod in agreement. The Paladin sighed.

"Well I hope you're right, but I can tell you what I've seen sug...gests... " Xzavier froze and his eyes went wide as he stared into the distance. At what they weren't sure. "Excuse me, I have to attended to something." He said hurriedly and left no room for them to argue. They watched him dash to the other side of the field and disappear behind a corner. They debated on following him but by the time they thought to chase after him, he was gone, leaving them more confused than they already were.

Xzavier was praying for several things as he rounded another corner. The first, for his eyes to be deceiving him, the second, that he was not being followed, and the third, if it was in fact true, to let neither have seen the other.

"Alright where are you?" He said a bit aggressively, but for good reason. A soft meow caught his attention. He looked up to the widow ledge above him. It seemed his prayers went unanswered. A small black cat with a demons tail and the most piecing blue eyes stared back at him.

"I should've know you'd be around." He said in spite. The cat gave no response. "So I guess I should prepare for an attack." The cat showed a smile full of fangs and disappeared into the shadows. He wasn't sure if he had seen Yukio and Bon and if he did would he even recognize them? He wasn't taking any chances. He needed to move the pastlings out of the base, but he doubted he could do so without making them more suspicious. He sighed and headed back towards his training group. He would have to double security and check all the protective seals after this.

/Line Break/

Yukio and the others were taking a break from training. They had taken up residence in one of the balconies in the base. This exorcist base was nothing if not huge. Shura liked to compare it to a large college campus or small town. Almost everyone, including themselves lived and worked there.

The others were talking, but Yukio honestly could not have cared about their discussion. It was mindless fun and it's not that he didn't want them to have a relaxing time, he just couldn't get his last encounter with the Xzavier out of his head.

He tuned them out. Yukio was silent, he was more often than not was lost in his thoughts. Ever since his reawakening, he could never shake thoughts of Rin. He knew it sounded cruel, but Yukio hoped that his twin was dead. He didn't truly wish ill will on him, but he couldn't stand the thoughts of any alternative. And some theories he would not even entertain. It was Xzavier's reactions to his questions that made him worried. The Paladin always danced around the subject, never gave him a real answer and was quick to change the subject. Though he had not asked anyone else outside the Paladin's circle, he was sure they were given orders to not give any information regarding the subject. And that's what really bothered Yukio. His mind always had that one question. Why? Why not tell them the truth, why lie to them and keep them away.

It was hardly the first time the Paladin had done something that made Yukio suspicious, but there was something different about this. Within the hour of their talk security had been heightened and though he couldn't see anything different, he knew that they were under more strict observation. He could practically feel the excess eyes on him even now. The whole thing was strange. If it was because a demon tried to attack then why not say so? Why keep them in the dark for something that would have been so trivial. The way Yukio saw it, the Paladin had been lying to them since day one. And the only reason to lie about a demon attack if it wasn't about why they were attacking, it would be because of who was attacking. Yukio saw no good reason to lie about who the demon was and he had to stop his mind from going any further. His thoughts were interrupted by a hand shaking his arm.

"Sorry, what?" He tuned himself back into their conversation.

"What do you think?" Sheimi asked as she released his arm.

"About what?" He hadn't been listening.

"About a Demon King being imprisoned somewhere beneath our feet?" Shima restated his earlier question.

"There's something weird about the whole thing." Yukio responded.

"Weird? Weird how?" That statement didn't help Konekomaru's rising fears.

"He's right. The Paladin was real weird about the whole thing." Bon agreed.

A rumble underneath them brought their conversation to an abrupt halt. Without missing a beat, one of the walls across the base, just barely in their line of sight exploded in bright orange flames. Their minds immediately sought out the worst possibility. Their fears were confirmed. In the new hole in the wall lesser demons of all kinds poured in. The demons did not hesitate and attacked whoever was close.

"What's that!" Konekomaru panicked.

'What's going on!" Shiemi shouted almost at the same time.

"Everyone stay put!" Shura instructed.

"Stay calm!" Yukio tried to sooth, though it wasn't working. Bon looked to Yukio, both wearing similar looks as they remember their odd encounter with the Paladin.

"Is that?" Bon asked, trying to hide the panic, but failing.

"Oh No!" Shima said also not being able to hide his fear.

"The King of Fire." Shura stated in a hushed tone. Yukio swallowed hard.

"A rescue mission." Yukio spoke in a quiet anger. "Impossible."

There was no time to dwell on whether the demons were capable of such complex emotion, or simply obeying orders, if they didn't act fast, they would be the next victims to the demons before them. Shura pulled out her sword and Yukio got his guns ready.

A little further down the wall another rumble and hole appeared, only this time as more lesser demons scrambled through, so did a giant hobgoblin. Had they not have seen the King of Earth in his demonic form all those years ago at Rin's trial, they probably wouldn't have been able to identify the demon riding on top the hobgoblin. There appeared to be another figure crouched along side the King of Earth, but it was too far away to make out.

Their group was more than able to handle the fire, earth and water demons that tried to attack them. They had annihilated any that came within proximity, expect for a few little fire lizards and hobgoblins. Just as Yukio was about to take another shot, he felt an ominous presence form behind him. He turned to see what looked like a Japanese dragon made entirely out of shadows. His mind, nor anyone else's had time to process the new threat before it attacked. It knocked them all off their feet with nothing but it's tail. Yukio and Shura were first to get back on their footing. Yukio briefly recalled learning about shadow demons in his time, but they were rare and weak. They had virtually no power since they belonged to no ones kin. Something must have changed in the hundreds of years they had been gone. A screech pulled his attention to another shadow demon, a crow, attacking another group of exorcists.

The shadow before them didn't give them time to even consider helping the others before it attacked again. Shura tried to attack but it merely grabbed her sword with it's mouth and through her back. Yukio attempted to shoot, but his bullets just seemed to melt into the shadow.

It stalked closer to Yukio, jaws open and black drool dripping from its mouth onto the ground. He couldn't fight this demon, but that wouldn't stop him from trying. He reloaded and raised his gun. The creature growled, ready to pounce, but right before it did, it stopped, looked up to the windows above them roared and melted into a puddle of a shadow. They watched in horror as it went up the side of the building and regained it's dragon shape as it entered through the window.

Only a few short seconds later did the windows explode in those very vivid and familiar blue flames. Yukio nor anyone else had time to react as two beings fell from the windows. The shadow dragon was close behind them and quickly took a guarded stance, protecting the one with long hair that was unconscious. The other demon pushed himself up onto all fours and stayed there, teeth clenched, fangs bared, growling, while catching his breath. His eyes alive with fire, but unfocused as he stared at the ground in front of him.

But that's not what made their hearts stop, or their emotions twist, it was the brilliant blue flames that covered the boys body.

**/Line Break/**

**(1)** German for little brother.

If I'm wrong on the translation let me know. I know only a handful of German words but it's been a while since I used or spelled any of them.


	7. Chap 6:curiosity Almost Killed the Cat

**Sorry for all these disappearing acts. I have no excuses, I'm lazy… But I'm back!**

**I know that this isn't an entirely good representation or depiction of the demon kings, but its my fanfic and this is how I wanted it go lol **

**Anyway without dragging this out any longer, here you go. **

**/Line Break/**

**Gehenna: Satan's Castle, Training ring **

**Year: x117**

"I give up!" Rin threw his hands in the air. The older brother in front of him shook his head. "I don't even know what I'm supposed to be doing." He sat cross legged on the floor of the training hall; tail coiled to the side of him.

Beelzebub sighed. This wasn't going the way he planned.

"This would be easier if you were a full demon, born in Gehenna." He crossed his arms.

"Good pep talk." Rin pouted.

"That's not what I meant." The King of Insects tried explaining.

Rin rolled his eyes. He hadn't known Beelzebub all that long, but it always amused him how ill adept he was at handling others. For being an all powerful Demon King, he was quite the introvert. He remembered the first time he had met him; Rin honestly didn't even know he was talking with one of his older brothers. He was dressed almost like a human, quite different than the medieval wear that most of the others wore. He usually kept himself completely covered in sweatpants, sneakers and a hoodie, with the hood up and tightened as much as he could. Rin had been curious as to why, but never received an answer from Beelzebub, so he had asked Amaimon. The Earth Kings response was simply that he's pretty. Rin had later asked Iblis and he had said basically the same thing. Rin had never truly seen what he looked like, so he had no comparison or opinion to add.

The Insect King liked to keep to himself and wasn't quite that comfortable in social gatherings. Neither was Rin, but for different reason. Rin wasn't used to demon educate and wasn't a Demon King. It made for awkward interactions. Especially when other demons would bring his half-blood into the conversation.

"Since you're part human, I'm not entirely sure what clan you'd be a part of." Beelzebub said.

"Clan? I thought it was kin." Rin looked up confused. Beelzebub could have smacked himself. He, like many others, forgot all too often that Rin knew virtually nothing about demon culture. And everything he thought he knew was nothing more the exorcist indoctrination. The King of Insects was supposed to be helping the youngest train, but he guessed he was giving a brief lesson first.

"Well, yes, and no. It's a bit more complicated than that." He gestured with is hands.

"When is it not complicated?" Rin huffed and placed his chin in the palm of his hand. All he had been hearing since he arrived in Gehenna was that things were always more complicated than he was aware. Sometimes he wondered how exorcists were even still around if they were so unaware of what they were truly fighting. Though he supposed that the exorcists were not as defenseless as they seemed and that the demons were not quite as powerful as they boasted, for they too had their weaknesses. There was a balance, tentative and fleeting, but a way of life none the less.

"It's always more complicated." Beelzebub laughed. "Demon Kings have kin. Those kin belong to clans that the demon king originated from. Meaning that in your demon and animal form, there are others that look like you and have similar instincts and in some cases powers."

"Like how Iblis is a lizard, but there are other forms of fire demons" Rin questioned. Beelzebub was impressed at how much he understood that explanation.

"Exactly. And that's how I can guarantee that even though you both wield flames, you are not a lizard." That seemed to bring back some confusion.

"How can you be so sure?" He was skeptical.

"You may not have noticed, but when you spar, you fight very differently. Iblis stays close to things he can easily climb if he needs an escape. He would rather wait for you to get close before he makes a move. And if he misses his first strike, he waits for his prey to get close again. "

Rin never really paid that close attention when he spared, but this gave him some new ideas on how to beat Iblis in their next training session.

"You, on the other hand, once locked on to your prey, stalk it, only emerging from your hiding when close enough for you to attack. If you miss, you give chase. You leave your tail out and it's always flipping in anticipation. While if you saw Iblis's, you would see that he holds it perfectly still."

Rin was a little concerned at that analyzation. His older brother may have been quiet, but he sure was observant.

Beelzebub carefully watched Rin's body language. His ears twitched slightly, and his tail bounced back and forth. He noticed that Rin was completely unaware of the action. That was a good sign. It meant that it was pure instinct. Rin would have an easier time conforming to his true form, if he didn't overthink it, like he currently was. Recalling a previous encounter with Iblis, he decided to change tactics. Rin learned quite differently than other demon children, but that could be expected, given his upbringing.

"well if you can't transform, I'm not too concerned." He crossed his arms. Rin jerked his head up quickly at the sound of that. Typically, everyone was telling him he could, they didn't make it sound so easily brushed aside.

"You're pretty young. Most kids your age wouldn't be learning things this advanced." Of course, this statement didn't sit well with Rin.

"Hey, I'm not kid!"

"Of course you are."

"No, I'm not." Rin jumped up off the floor, to be face to hood with his brother.

"Compared to other demons, you are. But don't worry, like I said little demons aren't that advanced."

"I'm not little!" A burst of flames formed between the two. Rin shrunk back in a daze, but Beelzebub stayed firm. As soon as Rin stepped back, the flames vanished.

"Sorry." Rin averted his eyes.

"You're still afraid." Beelzebub's previous tone changed into a more comforting one. Rin kept his head down.

"You're afraid of the power you wield and the destruction you have and can still bring. Your power is linked to your emotion, you'll never find balance the way you are now."

"Then what are we doing this training for, if I can't even do it." Rin said almost exhausted.

"We're trying to help you find that balance."

Rin growled. A response he did not mean to make, but he was still trying to get a handle on his newly awakened instincts.

"Controlling your flames will become much easier once you've accepted your true form." Beelzebub once again started to explain.

"I still don't know what that means, and neither do you." Rin was starting to get irritated.

He felt like everyone kept telling him the same things, over and over. They were trying to help, and he knew that, but somewhere in his subconscious thoughts of betrayal and lies crept out. Maybe they were lying to him. Maybe they were just using him. Maybe he would regret siding with them, like he regretted being an exorcist's ally. Satan had never been subtle about how he wanted Rin and his power in Gehenna. Rin knew it was risky staying with them. But as he was now, he was useless to both sides. He couldn't control his power and that in the human world made him dangerous and in the demon world it made him weak. But there was nowhere else for him to go. The exorcists would slaughter him within seconds, and he had no defense against stronger demons. The other part of his mind believed that they were actually trying to help him, that they actually cared. Some part of him was still unsure if demons could think in terms of family, or if it was just an elaborate act to keep him in Gehenna and use him for his power.

"True, I don't know your form, but I know mine." Beelzebub interrupted his toxic thoughts.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rin wasn't in the mood for anymore mind games.

To his surprise, Beelzebub removed his hoodie to reveal his dark skin underneath. Rin couldn't contain the slight tint on his cheeks. He understood what Amaimon and Iblis said. His older brother was indeed a sight. His dark skin and white hair gave an alluring contrast. His eyes were clearly not human, nor were they like a demons. They were like a dark star filled sky.

"Every high class demon has several forms. Their human form," He held up a finger, "their animal form," another finger, "and their true from, which is like a combination of the animal and human form."

Beelzebub then changed from his human from to a little purple and black butterfly. Rin didn't have time to comment because almost immediately afterwards he changed forms again.

Rin stared in amazement as Beelzebub's human form shifted. What stood before him was something similar, yet very different. The figure in front of him had two pairs of arms and purple and black dragonfly wings, folded like a birds.

"A demons true form is its most powerful, but sometimes it gets in the way of daily life and its pretty noticeable in Assiah." He crossed one set of arms and placed another on Rin's shoulders. "Once you find your true form the rest will come naturally."

The thought of accepting his true form, his true nature, honestly scared Rin. He didn't think he was ready. There would be no turning back once he made the choice. To accept his power would mean to reject that he was human. He was raised human. Some of his best memories were human, but so were worst. His mind would wander back to the thoughts that maybe he acted too soon. Should he have let Amamion bring him here? Should he have tried harder in Assiah, to stay with the exorcists? They were afraid of his power, but so was he.

Rin looked back to Beelzebub, who had taken a few steps back, could he really trust him? Trust any of them? He didn't know and he didn't have Yukio to tell him what was right or wrong. He had to make the decision himself. If he chose wrong, he may just loose himself in the instinct of his inner demon.

"What's with the gloomy look?" Beelzebub asked. "I was only teasing you before, don't get hung up on it. Let's get back to training."

"Hm, sure." Rin's tone was quiet.

"Don't worry, in time you'll master this." He said as he let his demonic features fade, replacing them with more human ones and put his hoodie back on.

Rin wasn't convinced, but continued on with the training, hoping he hadn't made the wrong choice.

/Line Break/

**Assiah: A few days before the attack**

**Year x361**

Stupid, he was so stupid. He thought as he hid on the ledge of a building holding his bleeding and limp arm. He should have known better then to split up from Egyn in an exorcist stronghold. But they were careless and impatient. They could handle themselves. Oh, how very wrong they were. They would have made it out of this situation much easier had they not been so oblivious. Sometimes their status as Demon Kings went to their heads. All the Demon Kings and Satan himself were powerful, but all that power meant nothing if they were not paying attention.

Iblis watched from his hiding place, as the exorcists confined Egyn. He would have gone after him, but the Paladin and some of his most powerful men were there. Maybe if he wasn't already injured he would have gone down there anyway, it was dark too so he also had that advantage, but even on one of his bad days, the Paladin was not a man to take lightly.

He knew it wouldn't be long before he was spotted. The longer he stayed, the more danger he put his brothers and himself in. Part of him wanted to stay and fight, the other part, riddled with guilt wanted to leave and never return. Unfortunately, he still had two younger brothers out on the loose, completely unaware of current events. His first priority had to be getting them to safety. They were strong, yes, but they were immature. Amaimon may have been a Demon King for millenniums, put he was still no more than a teenager. Rin was no better, he was practically a toddler. He couldn't image what would happen if those two were caught unaware. Especially with the way Rin loved to challenge the Paladin. It was sure to end in disaster, much like his own predicament.

He swallowed hard and released his grip on the wall, leaving claw marks on the bricks. He used the last of his power to hone in on Rin and Amaimon's auras, something he should have done in the first place, before exorcists were involved.

_There._ Across town, thank Gehenna's throne, far from this mess.

He leapt from his pedestal to the rooftop next to him and didn't stop there. He had moved just in time to avoid a certain Paladins gaze. But the exorcists in question had a suspicious feeling this would not be the end of it.

Iblis continued on in the direction of his brothers, making certain to stay in the shadows and avoid anything that looked or smelled like exorcists.

/Line Break/

It had not taken long for Rin and Amaimon to find their way to a currently unused construction site. After doing a quick check to make sure everyone had gone home for the night, they climbed on to one of the scaffoldings and started munching on some snacks they had picked up along the way, laughing about their adventures that day. They had gone to get candy, played in the arcade and just goofed around the shops. It was a pretty causal day for them and was usually how their trips in Assiah went. Might have caused a little trouble, but they were demons after all, and a demon's fun always involved some chaos. Now that they were winding down, they were playing some handheld video games. Amaimon insisted he was winning. Rin gave up arguing that they were playing different single player games a while ago.

The smell of blood touched their noses and they froze. They put down their games and, in a fluid, simultaneous motion, looked over in the same direction. Heavy frantic footsteps came stumbling through the door.

"They took Egyn!" Iblis spit up blood and collapsed on his knees.

"Brother!" Amaimon and Rin shouted in unison. They jumped off the scaffolding and ran over to him.

"We need to get Egyn!" Iblis tried to get up, but his aching body protested the motion.

"Iblis calm down." Rin frantically instructed. He and Amaimon helped him over to the wall so he could lean on it.

"Now what happened?" Rin asked kneeling besides his bleeding older brother.

"Exorcists... They ambushed us..." He said between heavy breaths. "Took Egyn..." He faded off into unconsciousness.

Rin and Amaimon weren't sure what to do. Egyn had been captured? That thought not only terrified them, but nearly made them retreat to Gehenna with their tails between their legs. Egyn was their big brother, their protector. No matter how much he complained about them, no one could rival his brother complex. He would do anything to keep his younger and older siblings safe. Sure, they argued and fought, but a few minutes later it was like it never happened and they were back to normal. Normal being annoying demon siblings. Truth be told, it was always Egyn who got them out of trouble. Whether in Assiah or Gehenna, it was Egyn's ability to rationalize that kept them out of harm. He was their ringleader in a way, even if Egyn called it "keeping them out of trouble" there was no denying that he was always in the middle of their excursions. But he had been captured. He was a powerful demon king and one of the more level headed ones, not one to be easily taken by surprise. And even if he was caught unaware, he was strong. It seems that this time, there was a factor none of them had considered. Rin had a suspicious feeling he knew what, or rather who that would have been, but he needed to see it first.

The two conscious kings locked eyes in pure disbelief.

"Stay...Stay with Iblis!" Rin managed to snap himself out of his trance "I'll go see if I can find where Egyn is." Rin jumped to his feet and was about to run through the door. Amaimon didn't hesitate and forcefully grabbed his arm.

"The exorcists are still out there. Little brother we should wait for Iblis to wake up." It wasn't like Amaimon to be so worried or shy away from a fight, but one of his older brothers was captured by exorcists, the other brother was wounded and unconscious, and his little brother going to go off on his own, to put himself directly in the enemy's path.

"We don't have time for that, we don't know what they'll do to him or where they'll take him. Beside I'm counting on the exorcist to still be there, we'll have a better chance of finding Egyn." Rin could see the worry in Amaimons otherwise emotionless eyes.

"Don't worry I'm not the King of Shadows for nothing. They'll never even know I was there." Amaimon wasn't convinced. Rin didn't feel like arguing anymore, every second they waited, the further Egyn was getting from them. He slipped out of his brothers grip and left their hideout, leaving Iblis in Amaimons care. The King of Earth would have followed the youngest, but he couldn't abandon Iblis in his defenseless condition.

Rin flipped the hood of his jacket up as he ran through the alleyways. He made a sharp turn and ran across the road. Half way across a cars breaks screeched as it tried not to hit him. His quicker reflexes insured that it didn't. He ducked into another alleyway. His best option was to head to the exorcist base. He didn't have to know the location of the base to know where to find it. He could feel it. It was almost repellent, which was most likely the point.

He reached another intersection. Right before he emerged, he switched forms.

Every demon king had the ability to change forms. Rin was no different. But unlike a fancy dog or green hamster, Rin's form was a little more subtle.

Little, but sharp, black paws ran across the pavement, weaving in and out of obstacles until he reached his destination. He crept back into the shadows where his black cat form was easily hidden. To a normal human he looked like an average stray. But to anyone who could see, they could tell otherwise. His ears were elongated, and his demon's tail stayed the same in any form he took, and his eyes never lost the fire behind them.

He sat there in the alleyway, looking across the street towards the wall. The only thing that separated him from his missing brother was that layer of brick with those subtly placed seals. As desperately as he wanted to run in there, he knew that would be foolish. If this had been any other base, he wouldn't have hesitated, the exorcists wouldn't have stood a chance and certainly wouldn't have been able to catch a Demon King. Unfortunately, this base was different. It was one if their main strongholds, which meant that it held some of their strongest exorcists, including the Paladin. If there was one exorcist to avoid, it was Xzavier. Rin blamed himself for that, it was their checkered past that created that monster. And a demon's monster was indeed a nightmare.

He flicked the tip of his tail back and forth while kneading his claws into the pavement. He was really irritated. Sneaking into the base was one thing, and was easily accomplished, but getting out unnoticed was another entirely different matter. Depending on who saw him it would either mean death or incarceration similar to Egyn's and not to mention their rescue mission would be ruined.

"Mommy!" Rin turned his annoyed gaze from the wall to the new voice at his side. "Look, kitty! Can I pet it?" Rin stood up and hissed at the child that had darted away from his mother, before dashing across the street. The last thing he needed was attention drawn to him by an over excited kid. His time to plan was over he supposed, but just as well, sitting there angry did him no good.

Rin trotted up to the wall and used one of his paws to test the seal. He felt a slight current of electricity run through his paw, but nothing deadly. Sometimes it paid to be a half demon. Even after all these years, exorcists still couldn't find a way to counter half bloods. He found that a bit amusing. Unlike the anti-demon weapons that could kill both man and beast, the seals worked a little differently. They were designed to stop anything that felt like a demon, but his human heart confused it long enough that he could slip through. He couldn't, of course, stay there very long, because it would eventually detect the demon in his veins, but he had no need remain there, just had to find where they were keeping Egyn and then he would be gone.

Rin hopped on the wall, ignoring that serge of energy, and checked his surroundings one more time. The only exorcist in sight had his back turned to the wall and was quite a distance away. He knew that this would be his best chance. He jumped off and quickly made his way across the open field to the nearest tree. Rin wasted no time and climbed into the thick of the branches. He always felt safer above his prey, it didn't matter what he was on, as long as they were below him. A hundred or so years ago when he had first learned to shapeshift, he had asked Iblis why that was. They may have been fire demons, but they had very different instincts. Iblis preferred to wait for his prey to get close before striking and that usually meant he was closer to the ground. Rin, while also perfectly fine to wait, liked to ponce. He also was more inclined to give chase and sometimes toy with them. Iblis had told him then that it was because they were different species. They were both demons and both wielded fire, but they were not the same. He didn't understand at the time, not until he saw Iblis's form and learned to master his own.

The exorcist started to leave his post. Rin assumed that they were switching guards. As soon as he got a little further away, Rin jumped from his hiding place, ran across the second half of the field and quickly found residence under a bush near one of the buildings. He felt much more vulnerable this close to the ground and no clear escape, but there was nowhere else for him to go. He glanced at the wall next to him and saw an open window, at least seven floors up, but an easy way in none the less. Checking his surroundings once more and deeming it safe, he retreated from his cover and began climbing the side. He crouched low when he reached the ledge and sniffed the air. It smelled of exorcists, but what did he expect. It wasn't a strong smell though, but lingering one, which meant no one was currently in the room.

He tentatively crawled through the window and noticed that he was in some sort of conference room. It was a well kept room, no papers lying around, all the chairs pushed in, and nothing that would help him find Egyn. He jumped onto the table and tapped his tail on the top. He needed a better strategy then going room to room looking. His luck had held so far, but sooner or later, he was going to run into exorcists. He also couldn't sense Egyn's aura. He was positive his brother was brought to this base. There was nowhere else they could have securely hidden a Demon King. But since Rin couldn't sense anything that must have meant that they had him behind a protective barrier. He didn't have enough time enough time to search every inch of the base to find that one corner where Egyn was hidden. The seals would eventually detect his demon blood and force him out, that is if the exorcists didn't kill him first.

He was essentially on his own, while he was inside the seal. He had no access to his or his brother's kin, which left him uncharacteristically defenseless.

The fastest way for him to find his missing brother was to get someone to give up the information. But that was risky. He would have to catch one of them alone and off guard, but if he cornered the wrong one, he would have a whole different issue. He could always just try eavesdropping, but that required him to get close and remain unseen. If he was spotted there would be no escape. It also meant he had to luck into finding someone careless enough to let that information slip.

The dinning hall would probably be a good place to start. There was nothing more unaware than a hungry gossiping group of exorcists. He jumped off the table, still uncertain of his plan, but was unable to stay much longer. He cautiously stepped out of the room and was glad to note that the hall was empty. He sniffed the air again, but his heightened senses couldn't detect a large group of exorcists, just a few randomly spread out around the building. He quickly turned around and jumped back to the window ledge and continued to climb to the roof in order to get a better lay of his surroundings.

He stood tall, tail flipping in the wind and was not disappointed. There was a reason this base was considered one of their strongholds. It could be considered a small town with the amount of resident and training facilities. In his time as a Demon King he had broken into a myriad of exorcist bases, normally just for fun, but this one was slightly intimidating. That wouldn't stop him though. He took a good look around and saw a building that would most likely house the horde of exorcists that he was after. With a soft cat's growl, he jumped from the roof and made his way back down.

Keeping to the shadows was easy, especially when the base seemed so deserted. He wondered where everyone was, not that he minded, it made it much easier to move around. That didn't mean he wasn't cautious.

In the quiet, he heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps headed in his direction. Without wasting a second, he took shelter behind a pole. His position made it impossible to see the passersby's faces, but he didn't care, as long as they couldn't see him.

"Can't believe they actually caught Demon King." He overheard one of them say.

"Pretty Impressive." The other said.

"Where do you think they're keeping him?" Maybe Rin wouldn't have to go much further to learn the answer to his question.

"Not sure, but Xzavier's leading a training session over there, we could ask him." One pointed to a nearby field.

"Doubt he'll tell us anything." The other was clearly annoyed with the Paladin.

"No harm in asking." They both walked off in the direction of the field.

Well he didn't learn much from them, but at least he now knew where the Paladin was. Once the other two were far enough from him, he snuck into the building in front of him. Again, mostly empty, only this time he could sense a very large group of exorcists crowed in one area.

He walked down the hall and caught notice of a wall of awards. Photos of exorcists were lined up with their trophy kills and, in some ways, it made Rin sick. He didn't have to much room to talk, he killed humans and demons alike, but he never hung them on his wall. Even in his most demonic form, he only killed out of a need for survival, not for fun. In his opinion the exorcists had fallen a long way from the time when all they wanted to do was protect. Now there were to many in it for the thrill and glory and their methods were questionable sometimes. He expected more from humans, from the supposed saviors, but he put that out of his mind for now.

As he got closer to the doors, he could hear all the chatter of the exorcists. Before getting too close, he ducked into a vent in order to remain hidden. Once in the vents, and above the room, he focused his hyper hearing on one group at a time. The first group he learned nothing; the second group was just as useless. He kept searching until he heard a whisper of what he was searching for.

_Hurry up._ Every second he stayed he could feel the seal closing in on him. He just needed that one key word that would end all of this.

"They're put him in the confine?" There, in the far corner of the room he found his answer.

"Makes sense. It's well guarded with some of the strongest barriers and impossible to break out of."

Good thing he was breaking in and not out.

"But it's only temporary, he's going to be shipped off to the Vatican when transport is ready."

That posed a problem. Breaking Egyn out of the stronghold would be difficult enough, but the Vatican would be next to impossible without a full blown war. He didn't have much time, they needed to do something quick. The exorcists would not wait on this and would surely have transportation ready within a few days.

Rin didn't care about the rest of their conversation, he got what he was after and with only minutes to spare. The seal was deadly close to finding him. He turned to leave when he felt his whole body throb. He gripped his side with one paw and left the other scraping the metal. His head was down cast as he remained unfocused. He shook himself back to awareness, this was no time to lose it.

He managed his way through the vents and back outside. Leaving the base at the same place he entered would take too long. But the closest exit also risky. Xzavier was leading a training group in the field before the wall. Rin weighed his options quickly. If he was fast and quiet, he could sneak by them. The Paladin was distracted in conversation with two others anyway.

Rin hopped onto the brick fence and quickly trotted across. He wasn't that far from the exit, just a little bit longer and he would be gone.

His vision started to blur and bounce.

The blood forced its way out and he coughed it up onto the brick wall he was standing on. It brought him to a screeching halt and left him widely exposed. His vision was blurry as he stared at the pool of blood between his paws. He wasn't so out of it though, that his advanced hearing couldn't pick up the slight sound of someone approaching. The scent on the wind revealed it to be Xzavier.

_Shit._

He needed to get out of there. At the moment, he couldn't win a fight, and no exorcists would pass up the chance to catch another Demon King.

He jumped off the fence and rounded a corner. That, unfortunately, put him running further away from the exit. He dashed behind a building, sure that the Paladin was close behind and perched on a windowsill. This might have been one of his dumbest, spur of the moment plans, but he couldn't run forever and there was no point in trying to hide. The Paladin would, if he hadn't already, alert the rest of the base. It was better to confront him now, while he still had the energy, than risk a fight he couldn't win. He watched Xzavier come around the corner, with his back turned to Rin.

"Alright, where are you?" His voice was more on edge than Rin was used to and after his initial shock, it filled his curiosity. But he would most likely have to wait until after Egyn's recue to investigate.

He gave a soft meow to catch Xzavier's attention. The Paladin quickly looked over and Rin couldn't tell if it was anger or panic that laced his expression, which only intrigued him more.

"I should've known you'd be around." The two had a strange history. Usually when they crossed paths, they were all too quick to exchange blows. It was more excitement than annoyance when they met. This, however, was different on both their parts.

"So, I guess I should prepare for an attack." His tone of almost defeat, was another odd emotion, but that wouldn't stop him from playing a little game.

He smiled, making sure his fangs were visible. His next move would completely expel him from the barrier, but it was the simplest and quickest way to get out of his current situation. He could feel the seal every second getting closer to his heritage.

He let his suppressed power through and true to name's sake melted into the shadows. He was, just as expected, immediately attacked by the barrier. The few seconds it took him to travel through the shadows and outside the base, were long and agonizing.

Rin regained his human form as he removed himself from the shadows into the same alleyway he started in. He stumbled a few steps and caught himself on the wall. He panted heavily as he tried to walk further. He kept his shoulder leaning against the wall for balance. He slid down ignoring the pain and the trail of blood that followed. He sat there, back against the wall, tail limp by his side, while his hand clutched his bleeding shoulder.

Damn, he knew the seal was strong, but this was ridiculous. No sooner had he released his power and the barrier had him nearly contained. He laughed to himself, those exorcists were stronger than they knew, best not to let them know that.

He sat there for a few minutes recomposing himself and letting his quick healing take effect. He couldn't return to Amaimon in this condition. His brother was nothing, if not protective. He was already going to get an earful from Egyn when this was over, he didn't need it twice. Though, somehow, he knew it wouldn't be avoided.


	8. Chapter 7: Something Missing

**I was reading the old version of this chapter to semi stay on track and boy was that trash. You all that lived through that deserve a prize lol But seriously thanks for sticking through it.**

**But for real, here's the plan. I was thinking long and hard about which direction I wanted this fic to take and I think I'm pretty set on where it's headed. So just be warned some odd things are gonna pop up and you're probably thinking "Hey that's weird, no mention of that in earlier chapters." Or "Wow that seems kinda forced and poorly planned" And that's because it was! I don't necessarily (at least at this point) want rewrite the beginning chapters. I'm going to try and incorporate some new ideas into this story to take in in a similar but different direction. But if it starts making less sense or gets to confusing I'll probably rewrite the earlier chapters to fit it better.**

**Anyway without drawing this out any further.**

**/Line Break/**

**Assiah: True Cross Academy, Mephisto's keep **

**Year: August, xx10 (before the spider demon attack)**

Rin thrashed about in an unfamiliar bed. His brows creased and his eyes were closed tight. He hated this. This stupid feeling, an instinct, that settled in his core and kept gnawing its way through him. It made him feel inhuman. Did that even matter anymore? Considering what had just happened a few nights ago, he guessed not. He should give in, he should let it take him over, his problem would go away if it did. That threat was still walking around his territory, unharmed and unpunished. He needed to remedy that.

He clenched his teeth and brought is arms up clutching the bandages on his chest. A slight growl forming in his throat. That definitely wasn't human of him. It only served to fuel that instinct, bringing it closer to the surface. He curled into himself. This time releasing the growl.

It hurt, everything hurt. His wound was no where close to being as healed as it should have been. It was so close to his heart too. If he moved to much or turned over Rin was afraid that it might spread and rip through that important organ. That had been the intended purpose of his attacker, the heart. If he hadn't stumbled back a step in, what he was ashamed to admit, fear, it would have pierced his heart. A few tears escaped his closed eyes.

_Just how week are you?_ A voice in his head taunted.

_Look at you, pathetic. Beaten and bloody, your core drained and your humanity disposed. You can't protect anyone, not yourself, not even-_

Rin's eyes flew open. No, he did protect him, he was sure of it. He risked everything to make sure he made it out alive and he knew he hadn't done so in vain. And no matter what it took, he would ensure that he would always remain safe. Even if it meant giving in to the demon lingering in the core of his being.

_Annihilate_

He would gladly do so

He felt warm all of a sudden, deep in his chest. It was a nice feeling, comforting and coaxing. He assumed it was the inner demon emerging. Rin didn't think he would stop it this time. It wanted to destroy his enemies. _Their _enemies. They had been betrayed for the last time. Rin clenched his bandages tighter, drawing some blood. And now nothing was going to stop them from destroying everything. He and his demon, as one.

"There, there little prince."

Startled, Rin released the grip on himself. Someone was there? That wonderfully warm feeling nearly vanished, bringing his mind closer to reality. He wasn't sure he wanted that. It made things less clear, his enemy less clear. All those human emotions were always in the way.

Rin blinked a couple of times to refocus. Without moving he turned his gaze outward. He was met by a familiar, but less then welcome sight at the moment. He hadn't fully comprehended the words little prince so he forced them out his mind. He had enough to dwell on without adding anything unnecessary.

"Mephisto?" Rin's voice was hoarse, and... dark. The Demon King made a note of that.

"Easy there dear boy. I'm only here to help." His little brother was in quite a bad mental state and he didn't want to set him lower. Rin huffed but slightly relaxed. He didn't trust the older demon, but he really didn't have any other option. In fact, he wasn't even sure why he was there, alive. He needed answers. He was sure his last moments would be in the woods or if he did manage to make it out he would be swarmed by exorcists. Neither of those futures seemed to have come true. Rin's curiosity and self-preservation peeked, he uncurled himself and sat up. He hissed in pain and his tail instantly balled up close.

"Now look what you've done, reopened those pesky wounds." Mephisto sighed. Rin shot him a nasty look. The King of Time had never seen such an expression in the younger's eyes. It was filled with sadness, rage, confusion and... hate. How very demonic. This was a very dangerous combination. Rin was a new demon, and still didn't accept that other half of him. Though at moment he could tell he was frighteningly close. Mephisto had to stop this. The boy needed to make peace with himself, not give in.

"How much exactly do you remember?" He asked tentatively, almost afraid of the young demons answer.

"Everything!" Rin snapped, opening his wound slightly more with a jerky movement.

"Now there, calm down."

"Calm do-" His words trailed off before he regained his energy "how do you expect me to calm down! Look what he did!" Rin gestured to the bleeding wound just centimeters from his heart. "and he's still out there!"

"This was indeed not the outcome expected, but I can't just let you go and kill as you see fit." Mephisto held a steady and firm tone. He needed Rin at ease.

Kill as he saw fit. The words sounded in Rin's head. Was that what he was about to do before Mephisto woke him? Somehow even though he knew that would be the outcome if he gave in, he had not really thought of it as killing. It was simply getting rid of a threat. Was he okay with that? With killing him? He looked down and balled his fists with the sheets. His throat hurt. Funny, he didn't remember screaming. But he heard screaming, a young and terrified voice. He quickly looked back up to meet the only other being in the rooms gaze.

"Wait! What about- Is he okay?"

"Yes, he's fine. He sustained a few injuries as well, but he's safe and hidden."

Rin let out a sigh of relief. If he had failed and been betrayed, he probably would have lost it. Then he realized that there had been no hesitation, he had aimed for them both without a second thought. He had been ready to end them from the start. Rin growled. Fine then, he was ready to kill too.

Mephisto could see he was losing the younger demon and had to act fast. He doubted there was anything he could really say to dissuade the boy, but he could at least delay him and get him to see things a bit more rationally before setting him lose. If he made the decision to kill later then so be it, he wouldn't get in the way, but only after he was ready. There would be no going back if he followed through. And right now, Rin couldn't see that.

"Rin, I know what's going through your mind, trust me I do." Rin looked up at him suspiciously. "You want to go after him and believe me in another circumstance I'd let you, but," And there it was, the but, Rin bit his lip (were his canines always this sharp) holding back a growl. He was not used to that. Was that why his throat was so sore?

"But right now, I need you to let it go. Just until the damage is fixed, and everything is back under control."

Rin didn't stop the growl that time.

"Come now, stop that. Do you want the Vatican after you?" Mephisto's voice raised in urgency.

"What about him? He shot me!" Rin jumped up on the bed, temporarily forgetting just how heavily he was beginning to bleed.

"The Vatican will have no sympathy for the half blood son of Satan. Your shooter will be hailed a hero and if you proceed after him now your execution will be inevitable. I won't be able to stop them. Now for the love of the ancients, Rin, sit down!" Mephisto's finished in slight anger, his normally crooked grin was replaced with a scowl. Rin could honestly say he had never seen such a look on him. He immediately complied and sat back down on the bed.

"Good. Lets get that wound rebandaged." He sighed. Mephisto pulled some medical supplies from a drawer next to the bed. Rin said nothing and didn't want to make eye contact, so he looked around the room, his prison, he supposed. He doubted Mephisto would let him leave anytime soon. It was exactly what he expected a room designed by the demon to look, extremely bright. Never had Rin wished so much to be swallowed by the dark, metaphorically and maybe physically.

Mephisto sat on the bed next to Rin and started to undo the dirty bandages. Rin flinched. That hurt. With a little less adrenaline pumping through him he remembered just how bad his injury was. As the demon cleaned and redressed the wound, and Rin could say that was an odd sight, a thought came across his mind.

"How come it still isn't healed?"

"Oh, come now use that head of yours. You know why." He said much softer than before. Mephisto heard him mumble curses to silver under his breath. Good the boy could still think.

"There. Now do try not to reopen it. I don't think I have to remind you just how close it is to your only heart."

Rin nodded slowly. He didn't need to be reminded, he could so vividly feel it.

"So, what am I supposed to do now? Rin whispered. He sounded almost broken. If Mephisto had only one heart, he was sure that tone would have crushed it.

"Right now to stay and rest. Once you're healed I want you just go about, like everything is normal."

Rin almost found some renewed energy to fight at those words, but a sharp look from the other made him stop.

"But he won't do that. We both know that." He settled on being mildly annoyed.

"The best I can do is alter some memories. They won't remember this," He motioned to the wound, "or the last couple of days."

Rin couldn't help but be disappointed. If he was going to go after him he wanted him to remember why. Mephisto saw this. It wasn't his plan to have him go around acting like this event hadn't happened. Just the opposite. He wanted this experience to teach the boy just how different from humans he was. But not yet. Not until the mess was cleaned and Rin had calmed. It would do no one any good to have a rampaging demon.

"Don't worry it won't be permanent. It's just until I can clean up the mess you three have made."

Rin nodded again.

"Good. If you need me, I'll be right down the hall, but for now go back to sleep."

Rin laid down hesitantly and curled into quite the tiny ball Mephisto observed. Sleep came over him quite easily given his earlier outburst. When he was sure the half demon was asleep and not a danger to himself, he left the room. This was going to be a very big mess for so few involved and most of them missing memories.

Rin wasn't aware of time, at least cohesively. If he hadn't been told how long he had stayed in that room, he would have guessed an eternity. But it had only taken a few days and Rin was completely healed, physically at least. Though, there was a nasty scar right where the bullet had been. Serving as a permanent reminder of the untold events. His trauma he was sure would last a lifetime as well. His wounds had taken far longer to heal than they should have, but considering how close the bullet was to his heart, he supposed that it was a miracle at all that he was even alive. Did demons even have miracles to give? Well whatever it was, it was looking after him. He guessed he should thank Mephisto for that. He never knew the older demon could be so gentle. He was grateful. If the demon hadn't been so careful Rin would have either bled out or had his heart pierced. That didn't mean he was okay with this covering up plan. After truly thinking about it, he knew that it was the better choice. Not necessarily the right one, but he couldn't go off like a wild uncontrolled predator on a hunt. He would be gunned down before he could even get close, not to mention what the aftermath would ensue.

Rin could still feel that instinct deep down, suppressed, but growing. He tried not to focus on it. The harder he seemed to ignore it, the greater it felt like it was becoming. It was there, always. And he knew, even without being well versed in the way of demons, that it would never leave so long as his enemy still drew breath.

"You can't hide here forever." Mephisto said as he walked up behind the brooding half demon. Rin startled; he hadn't noticed the company. They stood in an archway that lead to a courtyard. From his place in the shadows Rin could see Yukio and Shura waiting for him to arrive. Like it was just another summers day training session. He was honestly relived this had happened now instead of during the school year. He needed time to find a new rhythm and considering just how desperately he wanted to maim something, he knew it would take awhile. His classmates would have only distracted him and made it harder to keep control of his emotions and ever emerging instincts.

"Your sure no one remembers." Rin didn't even bother looking away from the two.

"Positive. Now get going before they come looking." Mephisto tried to quickly shoo him off.

Rin hated this; it wasn't fair.

He walked out of his hiding place and headed towards the two without another word or even a look to the demon behind him. He had never tried so hard to keep his fists unclenched and a growl from escaping. Though, before those really weren't things he experienced. He had to be normal. He wasn't sure he could anymore. Never had that seemed so challenging.

It wasn't fair.

"Bout time, we've been waiting." Shura said a little frustratedly, but no real anger in her voice when she noticed him approaching.

"He's always late, I don't know why you insisted on coming so early." Yukio got off the bench he had been sitting on, arms crossed.

"Shut it you four eyed chicken." She tapped his head. "Come one Rin we got to get you training."

The moment of truth. He could do this. Trample those instincts like he always had. All he had to do was pretend everything was fine, like there hadn't been a near deadly confrontation between three in the woods. He hadn't spent the last week in Mephisto's house nursing wounds that could have, that should have killed him. No, none of that had happened. He's just the same simple-minded slacker he's always been.

_Who are you soulless one_

The voice was muffled and Rin couldn't make out the words. Was someone speaking?

"Rin?" Yukio asked, clear annoyance in his voice.

"Yeah my bad," He rubbed the back of his neck, "I overslept." He smiled and laughed.

"It's three in the afternoon you bum." Shura mocked. Rin gave her a playfully guilty smile.

"Alright let's go." Yukio shook his head ignoring, for now, his brothers sleeping habits.

"Coming." he followed behind them so they wouldn't see his fists clenched or the frown that haunted his face. He couldn't do this.

It wasn't fair

/ Line Break /

**Assiah: Before the attack**

**Year: x361**

Gateways. What a strange concept. A door, a portal, an opening, or a line in the sand whatever you wanted to call it, it connected and divided. An open door brings people together. It lets demons cross from their world to Assiah. It's an open invitation for any who see it and are willing to take that step.

A closed door marks the opposite. It's a warning to any that dare try to cross that path. It keeps them apart. Whether it be keeping people safe inside or leaving demons clawing at the other side, it doesn't matter. The results of separation are achieved.

It was a gateway that kept Rin from accessing his demonic power hundreds of years ago. It was a line that kept him from being accepted by his human classmates. It currently divided him from Egyn and it was the same barrier in front of Rin that kept him from returning to his two other brothers. Because in the end all gates are same. It doesn't matter if one is meant to keep demons out or the other is nothing more than a simple door to a building still under construction, it blocked his path.

He tentatively pushed the door open, being as quiet as he could, silently praying to his father that Iblis was still unconscious. It went unanswered. He should know better, demons don't pray. He crept through the door and was immediately face to face with a very angry and very awake Iblis. If Rin had the energy, he might have screamed.

"So, where have you been?" Iblis grinded his teeth with his hands on his hips. Rin rolled his eyes and pushed passed him. His limp tail did not go unnoticed by Amaimon, but he chose to stay silent for the moment and let Iblis handle things.

"Don't ignore me." Iblis yelled as he whipped his head around to keep eyes on Rin. The young half demon was far too tired to deal with this, but he would never show that, at least he was trying not to.

"Reconnaissance, your welcome." Rin turned back around, smugly. It was Iblis's turn to roll his eyes.

"We can't just split up like that." His tone was calmer with more worry. After all, dividing themselves is what caused this whole ordeal. Rin sighed. He knew his brother was meant well, but that did nothing to change their current situation. Their options were limited and every second they spent indecisive, Egyn was getting further away.

"Look, we don't have time for this. I don't know when, but they're moving Egyn to the Vatican." Rin quickly changed the subject to the topic at hand.

"The Vatican!" Iblis immediately forgot about Rin's defiance. "We don't have means to fight a war with them." A painful truth. The three of them could by no means win a war and retrieve their brother. Not without the help of their father. And right now he was at the top of their list of people to avoid, right next to the Vatican.

"Which is exactly why we need to move now." Rin voice held an urgency, as he tried to hide his fatigue. Iblis, in his panic, might not have noticed, but he couldn't fool Amaimon. The Earth King had a knack for reading Rin like no other. Some might call it obsessive paranoia, but he called it watchful brother. No matter what it was called, he could see Rin was in no condition to start a fight. From the looks of things, he barely escaped what ever trouble he had managed to get himself into. And Iblis might have regained his energy vocally, but he too was still wounded. No demon would ever admit so out loud, but the exorcists had gotten stronger and better. They were starting to pose a real threat.

"No." Amaimon quickly interjected. He wasn't one to normally spoil the fun, but neither of his brothers were thinking clearly. He was always down for a good game, so long as it was winnable. And with the way these past few hours had played out, he wasn't sure it was.

"No?" Rin wasn't sure he heard that right. His heated gaze immediately turned to Amaimon. The demon in question held firm. It was only one word, but its meaning was great.

"Neither of you would last a minute in an exorcists stronghold." He started to explain, before Rin promptly cut him off.

"Hey! I spent a good hour in that base-"

"And look at you, barely standing."

Rin would never tell them, but he was extremely lightheaded. Though, it looked like he didn't have to say anything, he was basically and open book. Even after all the years his emotion could still be considered wildly out of control. He had most of his powers under control, but he was still lacking in other demonic ways. Iblis would say it's because by demon standards, he was still a toddler. Sometimes that only fueled him more.

"And we have no plan. We can't just go in there, like we usually do-" Amaimon was cut off again.

"Like you usually do? What have I been missing?" Iblis spoke up, unhelpfully. "But, he's right." Iblis hated to admit it but Amaimon was right. They needed a plan. "We can't just break in and hope everything turns in our favor. They'll be waiting for us and they've had plenty of time to prepare."

Rin sighed a little bit in relief. He wanted to rescue Egyn, but escaping the barriers grip had drained him. Fighting now would probably also end with his own imprisonment.

"And the Paladin is there." Rin supplied.

"Yeah no shit. Who do you think jumped us?" Iblis was a little annoyed Rin thought him so unobservant. If things weren't so dire Rin would have had fun teasing both Iblis and Xzavier, maybe next time.

"So, a plan?" Amaimon sat down on the dirt floor, bringing them to the real issue before they could start another pointless argument. The other two joined him, willing to temporarily forget their pent up aggression. There would be plenty of time to release it later.

They sat in a circle, Rin quickly drew a crude representation of the base in the dirt. At least what he had seen of it, which admittedly wasn't much.

"Hmm." Iblis rocked back and forth on his heals where he was crouched. "Rin, you know where he is, I think it'll be easier for you to break Egyn out while Amaimon and I be the distraction." Iblis looked up from where he had been pointing at the lines that were supposed to be walls, to meet the avoided gaze of his brother.

"About that..." Rin trailed off. Iblis's gaze turned harder. "I don't know exactly where he is." He nervously laughed. Iblis was inches from strangling his youngest brother. This was going as well as Amaimon had expected. The three of them were not exactly the planning sort, that was Egyn's function. They were more of the run in head first, destroy something and hope no one noticed and if they did, make a bigger mess and get the heck out of dodge type.

"Hey! That base is huge. I stayed as long as I could before Xzavier found me and the barrier kicked me out!" Rin deafened, as he pushed his older brother off of him. He rubbed his neck and sat back down cross legged, tail outstretched behind him. Iblis slightly relaxed, but only to think.

"That barrier is a big problem. We need to destroy it before we get in there." He placed a hand on his chin.

"That's the easy part." Amaimon said it like it was obvious, and perhaps it should have been. "My kin and I can break it from below." He used both his hands to prop up his chin as he laid on his stomach, sucking on a lollipop. Why did he always seem to have an endless supply of the stuff? They were planning to destroy an exorcists main stronghold, could he have a little more decency? Well as much decency as three Demon Kings on the run from their father and sitting in the dirt of a slightly constructed building, doing their very best to play war council could have.

"I still want you to be the one searching for Egyn." Iblis directed Rin, trying to keep focus. "You've been in the base once so you have a slightly better knowledge of its layout."

Rin nodded. Though slightly better knowledge was an overstatement. He hadn't really seen that much of the base and towards the end, as he made, or at least attempted to make, his silent departure, was a blur. He vaguely remembered taking a handful of turns before confronting Xzavier. How he had managed to run so far without meeting a single other exorcist while in his dazed state he didn't know. But it wouldn't matter anyway, the Paladin had already seen him and that was more than enough to wake the entire base. He was honestly surprised he made it out before an angry, trigger happy hoard of exorcists had shown up. Had Xzavier not sounded an alarm, or called for backup? It was a big base and there had been a group training right in front of him. Surely, they would have been hot on his tail, he hadn't been running that fast.

He realized he had been staring blankly at the bad drawing for a few seconds. He could ponder the Paladin's weird actions, and come to think of it, his tone too, later. Or perhaps he could get some answers later when they ransacked the place.

"I know he's in what they call the confine. I just don't know where exactly that is." Rin's eyes gained a bit of a spark. If it had been anyone other than the two with him they would have fled, tails tucked between their legs. For when Rin usually got that look in his eyes, it almost always followed with something being set on fire. He had better self control than most gave him credit, so nothing was set a blaze in this instance. "I do know where it's not though." He took his finger and X'd off a few places on the map. Namely, where he had entered, the field, the first building and the cafeteria. It wasn't much and it still left them a small town to search, but it was a direction, albeit, small.

"It's a start at least. We'll do this in the afternoon. They'll be more prepared for a demon attack once the sun sets." Iblis got nods of approval. Their power would be slightly lessened in the middle of the day, but so too would the exorcists. And hopefully that was enough of an edge to give them an advantage.

"Once we find Egyn, Kuro can give the two of us an easy out." Rin looked around for his feline companion. "Hey where is he?"

Amaimon, without even looking pointed behind Rin to the sprawled out form of a cat. Kuro was lying as spread out as his little body could on a pile of wood, unconscious.

"What happened to him?" Rin asked curiously, and little worriedly. Kuro had been perfectly coherent when Rin had left earlier.

"I got bored waiting for Iblis to wake up and you to return. So I might have given him some catnip I had stashed in my pocket." Amaimon said while making unhelpful designs in the dirt in front of him.

"Great. How is he supposed to be battle ready when he's high? I wasn't Even gone that long!" Rin made extroverted hand gesture in Amaimon's direction.

"A hour and thirty-seven minutes, which was an hour and thirty-six minutes too long. And besides, it wasn't a lot, he'll come down before we do anything. It's not like the time I put ten nightshade berries in your tea." Amaimon shrugged off the concern, and pretending not to see Rin flinch at the memory.

"Yes, I don't think anyone wants to relive that. Now can we please get back to this."

"Gladly." Rin was never so happy for a distraction. He could only remember bits and pieces of that day, but he knew it was basically some of his brothers chasing him around, and not in the fun normal way they usually did. It was more of a stop Rin from jumping off the top of the castle because he thinks he can fly kind of day. After he had calmed down he had the worst headache of his life and was sure to never drink anything Amaimon gave him without at least sniffing it first.

They stayed that way for a little longer while they fine tuned their heist. The plan wasn't nearly as good as it could have been, if they had their full resources and more time. It was hastily thrown together and relied heavily on Amaimon and Iblis's distraction. But it would have to do, they were running out of time.

True to his word Kuro did eventually wake and regain enough composure to be told the plan. He, as the excitable spirit he was, wasted no time in jumping around the room calling battle cries, until he exhausted himself.

The four, when they were as pleased as they could be with the plan, fell into a light sleep for the rest of the night. They would have preferred a more sound and complete nights rest, but as it were, exorcists were still out there, and on the hunt. The had to be aware, just in case, they had been tracked down. Rin was sure he wasn't followed, but Egyn had been sure they were safe, in trouble maybe, but he never would have stayed if he though the exorcists here a true threat. An oversight on all of their parts. They should have know better.

Waking in the middle of the day was one of the three things demons hated the most. On that list were also people who lacked the clairvoyance to see them. Sure they could still be affected somewhat, but they usually ignored what they couldn't see or explain. That took the fun out everything they did. Next would be the ones that could see them but did not rightfully fear them. They lost power over people who were not afraid. Luckily, there were very few of those. Even the exorcists for all their faults, knew to fear them. They were dangerous, though only to the extent that they could control the situation. That's what made the fearless and oblivious such tricky things to deal with. It was always better to avoid those.

Getting up in the middle of the day however, they could not avoid this time. As much as they were creatures of the night, the exorcists would have fortified their defenses by then. Gehenna's throne, after Rin's stunt they probably already have.

Rin, in his groggy half awake state, considered just leaving Egyn and going back to bed. But with a stretch a pop of his back he revised that statement. He was ready to let loose on that base, if only to teach them a lesson. Capturing a Demon King was a very big and costly mistake. He and Xzaiver were a slight exception to this. Their odd past made it more fun to get in each others path. This, however, was different.

His two older brothers had already risen and were currently getting things ready. And by getting things ready, he meant calling and directing their kin. Amaimon sat atop his Behemoth, waiting for Rin. The youngest demon, as per their less than perfectly constructed plan (if you could even call it that) would remain hidden in the chaos, close to the Earth King until the barrier was broken. Only then would he break away to find Egyn. Rin stepped though the door, but not before calling some of his own kin.

"Penumbra." He said almost sinisterly. Out of the shadows came a snake like creature, twisting and winding itself to wrap around Rin's neck and shoulders. Many thought the beast resembled a Japanese dragon. When Rin had constructed her, he had been thinking of his home, his old human home and some of the traditions that went along with it. So it really wasn't surprising, to him at least, the shape she had taken.

"Jabberwocky." Rin said with an equal amount of eerie in his voice. A bird screeched from above him. Ah, his loyal watcher was never far. The widow bird on the branch above him flapped his wings. Most would only see a common crow but those who knew better would fear those long tail feathers. When Rin had created him, he had needed something fast, agile, light, but capable of sending terror into others. Much like his master, his power largely took signals from events around him. Usually he was a small bird, but in the right situation he could grow in size, and in power.

"I have a job for you two." The creatures growled and squawked in anticipation. He whispered to them, though he really needn't say anything, they were linked to their creator, they knew exactly what his will entailed. To stay close, but cause as much trouble as possible. They melted into his shadow in compliance. When they were needed, they would be right by his side. Kuro, also knowing his role in all this, jumped back into his favorite place, nestled in Rin's shirt.

With that, he was as ready as he'll ever be. Rin jumped onto Behemoth, crouching close to his older brother. He threw the hood of his jacket up and tucked his tail in, this was no time for games. The less that could go wrong that he could prevent, he would do so, even if it was uncomfortable.

With an animalistic growl from Amaimon, Behemoth took off towards the base, other earth demons following closely behind. Getting there undetected was the easiest part of their whole rescue mission. Rin's master over the shadows was great. He cloaked both his brothers and their kin in it, make them invisible to any that might look their way, including exorcists. Though doing so took up a great deal of his power.

It wouldn't be long now. In a matter of a few hours they would turn the tides of these events, and put the exorcists back in their place.

/ Line Break /

**So what do you guys think? I'm trying to take things a little bit slower and make things slightly more complex, you know really trying to build the world, Rin's life and personality, not just speed into event after event. At least I'm trying not to. As much as I'm gonna try and keep Rin true to himself, he is a Demon King and has lived like one for centuries, so there's bond to be a slight change in character that you'll probably see in the next chapter.**


End file.
